Woman with Down syndrome rejected by every sorority at George Mason University

Friday, September 21, 2018
A woman with Down syndrome was rejected by every sorority at George Mason University
A woman with Down syndrome was rejected by every sorority at George Mason University

FAIRFAX, Virginia -- The sister of a student at George Mason University claims the college's sororities didn't allow her sister to join on the basis of disability.

Lillie Heigl's sister AnnCatherine applied for membership to eight sorority chapters at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia.

Heigl took to Twitter to express her outrage at the situation. She claimed in a statement that AnnCatherine was "released" from all of them.

Heigl wrote, "There were less than 300 women in @GMUPanhellenic recruitment this year and there are 8 chapters. I refuse to believe that based on these numbers there isn't a single chapter that had a spot for AC. Her resume speaks for itself. The problem was that disabilities are unwanted."

Mason Panhellenic issued a statement regarding the matter on September 19. They wrote, in part, "Panhellenic's Formal Recruitment is a mutual selection process, and as the overseeing council we manage the process and enforce policies that have been decided on and approved by our member organizations. However, we do not possess the ability to dictate our chapters' membership or the process of selecting new members. As a council that promotes inclusivity, we recognize that people have been harmed by the decisions of our members, and we are committed to engaging all communities in dialogue on these issues to do better in the future."