About a year ago my friend decided to join a fraternity/sorority. They are a coed group that mostly does community service work. She went through the entire initiation process, but the day that it was to become official at a ceremony she decided to not go through with it. The group was understandably upset and felt that they had been lead on by my friend. Not to mention all of the paper work they filled out for her.
Fast forward to this year and semester and my friend is trying to join the group again. I wouldn’t think it would be a problem however, she is graduating this May meaning she only has this semester left. I think it is cheating to think she will become a member by participating for one semester whereas other members have involved for years. I asked her why she wanted to join again and she said it looked good on a resume and it was fun. I feel that she is cheating the system just to have it on her resume. What do you guys think? Currently we are having a long argument about it with her and I just want to know what other people think. Any response is good! Thank you for reading 
What kind of an organization would admit you for the last half of your senior year after you had spurned them to begin with? Is there money involved?
I think this falls under the “none of your business” category. If she wants to join the organization, then she has the right to unless there is a specific policy saying that she can’t.
I would think it would be up to the organization or organization leader. If they have to fill out a lot of paperwork on her behalf then it may be well that she does not qualify or they would decide based on past behavior to not accept her in the group.
Who is “we”? If the organization will allow her to join, why does it matter to you? Have you and the others who are arguing with her been members “for years” and you don’t like that she can put it on her resume after one semester? Whether or not she joins is between her and the organization. It’s not really any of your business. If you want to help your community, you should encourage more people to participate not give them all the reasons why you think they shouldn’t.
Hi, when I said we I meant her and I. Sorry for the typo. There is money involved which are member fees she will have to pay. I really shouldn’t be upset, but I know some of these people personally and they are awesome. They have been involved with the organization for years now and they love it.
My friend has never really done community service or anything and while I feel that it is great she wants to start now I think she shouldn’t be able to call herself a true member. I just feel she is trying to get something on her resume in the easiest way because she will only be there for a semester. I know it really isn’t any of my business so I guess I should not care, but for some reason I do. Also sorry if i come off rude, that is not my intention. I know community service is important and I shouldn’t be unsupportive of her choice to join now, but something feels off if that makes any sense.
It’s not cheating. The sorority has the right to accept or reject members as they see fit. They know that she’s graduating in May, and if they accept her anyway, then clearly it is not a problem to them. It’s not cheating unless she lies or misleads them into thinking that she’s not graduating in May. If they are fully aware that she’s graduating soon, it’s up to them (not you) whether they think that’s okay or not.
Also, I think you and your friend are severely overestimating how helpful having a sorority is on your resume. It really is not that big of a deal. The only time it might matter is if she had a leadership position (which she does not) or if someone in the hiring process was in the same sorority (in which case it would only matter if she is already as qualified or more qualified than the other candidates for the position). It’s not going to make someone hire her for a position that she otherwise unqualified for. It’s also common practice to put dates on activities in a resume (such as jobs, internships, research, awards, extracurricular activities, and memberships in professional associations), in which case it would be obvious that she participated for less than a year. Also, what really matters is what she does in the sorority, not the fact that she can list the name on her resume. If she doesn’t participate in any community service or other events, she wouldn’t have anything to talk about in an interview if someone asked her about it, and unless she actively participates (like with community service or networking), she really won’t get anything out of just being associated with the name.
Even if you think it’s not fair for her to include this in her resume, it’s really not worth you getting this worked up over it. She’s may not even be accepted, and even if she is, it really won’t make much of a difference at all in her resume.