Around 7:08 p.m. on Thursday, lines of cars decorated in bright window paint sped up and down the Hill on South Mountain. With horns honking and music blasting, the girls of the Delta Gamma sorority were angry. Less than 10 minutes earlier, Delta Gamma officials and Lehigh's Office of Sorority and Fraternity Affairs had notified them that their chapter would be closing. At her home sat Pam Reppert, their chef since 2007, unaware and uniformed that she had just lost her job.

They could keep their chef for two more weeks, OFSA told the girls. After that, Reppert would be unemployed and the girls would be placed on a meal plan for the remaining months of school. A junior in DG had to text Pam to let her know of the situation because OFSA has yet to inform her that she's lost her job.

The fact that Pam had to ask a student to text her when DG found out whether or not she had a job is sad enough. The fact that the student had to go through with it is even worse. And the fact that she has still not been informed by the school is absolutely ridiculous.

But beyond that, the fact that the sorority closing means that Pam has to lose her job is simply ridiculous. The girls will still be living in the house, the kitchen is there and the girls have paid for the meal plan. Why not let her keep her job through the remainder of the semester?

Pam loves her job, and the girls love Pam too. “I really do love my job. I have always told my friends this is my dream job. Not too many people can say that,” she said. “I enjoy cooking, trying new recipes. I even have someone to wash the dishes for me, and always someone to talk to. I have summers off, fall break, winter break, spring break.”

The way that Lehigh treated DG’s chef is one small example of how poorly university leaders handled a bad situation. It’s clear that OFSA would rather punish the members of DG than respect their own employees. The girls are allowed to live in the house the remainder of the semester, so in order to fire Pam, Lehigh has to refund money to the girls, set them up with a meal plan, and allegedly remove and replace the stove. Why not just let Pam stay? It seems much easier.

Pam has been married 28 years, her husband’s name is Willy, and has two girls, 24 and 22. From them, she has two “awesome” grandchildren: Mikey is 7 years old and Karissa is 5 months old. All of the DG girls know Mikey well because Pam often brings him in with her to work. “He’s my little helper. And Karissa is growing up so fast. Her smile just makes me smile,” said Pam.

On Dec. 19 Lehigh was notified by Delta Gamma’s national leaders that the charter may be pulled. The school had more than 60 days to deal with this situation and come up with a fair way to deal with Reppert, yet they came up with nothing. Then, even though Delta Gamma’s executive offices reached their decision Feb. 17, Lehigh still didn’t inform Pam. She says that no one from Lehigh or DG ever contacted her and that the only information she was given was by the Fraternity Management Association. They said that the sorority might be kicked off, and if that happens she might be fired.

She was given dates of when decisions would be made, but then dates were altered and pushed back even further. Even though Lehigh did not ultimately decide to kick the house off of the Hill, they do have the power to allow Pam to keep her job, especially with rumors that a fraternity will be occupying the building in the fall.

“I have worked many long hours cooking and I do enjoy my time off. But not the time off I will be getting in two weeks,” she said. “I have bills to pay. Why do I have to be punished?”

Story by Brown and White opinion writer Melissa Harans, '14.