Myself, Reza Slivka, along with Rachel Allen, have been working tirelessly for about 2 months now in preparation for DePauw's annual Little 5 bike race. This is one of the school's most important traditions, and has been going on since 1956. As race week rolled around, Rachel and I were informed that Theta National's is not allowing us to have a team to compete in the race.
Nationals has now informed us that we needed to have submitted a PEC (pre-event checklist) and budgeted for the race in the begining of the year. The race costs 60$ per rider and Rachel and I have funded ourselves. To an extent, we admit that we understand that we should have looked ahead and see where our mistake was. But, it was the support and guidance from nationals that we did not receive in advance that would have allowed us to prepare for this. They have failed to help us and we are now heartbroken by this news.
Rachel and I tried to schedule a phone call with members of Nationals only to be told they did not have time. After unsatisfying replies back to our emails, Nationals is holding their ground and forcing us to compete as individuals, not as Team Theta. They also told us we need to discourage our sisters from coming to cheer us on, or else the bike race could be perceived as a "Theta Event". We are calling on Theta alums to help us gain support so we can show Nationals how much Little 5 means to Kappa Alpha Theta. Please sign our petition if you believe Rachel and I should be able to participate as a team in Little 5. Please send this along to Theta alums who would also be passionate about our cause! Thank you! It would be greatly appreciated if you can sign your whole name, chapter of Theta, and year of graduation.
