Tinder is paying for a University of Nebraska Omaha’s senior year of college after her sorority moved to kick her out over wearing her sorority’s letters in her Tinder profile picture.
Shannon Workman, a junior and former member of the Chi Omega sorority, was posing with her friends for her picture on Tinder, wearing a tank top saying “Sweet Home Chi Omega.” Apparently, the sorority did not want their name associated with the website.
According to MTV, Chi Omega’s executive board even called Workman’s behavior “promiscuous” and “provocative,” labeling Tinder as just a hook-up website. The sorority has a “Human Dignity” rule, in which sisters are not allowed to post anything online that would not “uphold the honor and dignity” of the chapter.
“Some people use [Tinder] for hookups but I don’t, and a lot of great things happen through Tinder,” Workman in an interview with BuzzFeed News.
“There’s no place for personal degradation within membership of Chi Omega,” said one chapter advisor to Workman in the personal disciplinary meeting over the issue. Instead of going through the process of “membership revocation,” Workman decided to quit her sorority on the spot.
“We think what Shannon did sends a very empowering message to young women and college students, which is actually one of Tinder’s largest audiences. Don’t conform, don’t let people tell you your beliefs are wrong just because it’s not the same as their beliefs,” Tinder co-founder and CEO Sean Rad wrote in a statement to BuzzFeed News.
On top of awarding Workman a year’s tuition, Tinder even called up the college junior to offer her a paid internship in California this summer. “It’s the first time we reached out to someone whose story inspired us and asked them to be part of the team…her actions showed a depth of leadership and courage that is admirable and something we value as part of our company culture,” Rad said to BuzzFeed.
I love my mom pic.twitter.com/doRuZ9tWSI
— Shannon Twerkman (@TwerkMeow) April 5, 2016
On Good Morning America, Workman said, “I hope girls stand up for themselves, and whatever they believe in.” Shannon may not have been able to stay at Chi Omega, but now she has a year’s tuition and an awesome job offer—great things really do happen through Tinder!