New Greek regulations?

“Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.” A famous quote, to be sure. Updated to fit a more current issue, Kennedy may have said, “Ask not what your office can do for you, but what you can do for your office.”

The Greek community in the last 10 years has slowly been dying. Few like to admit it, but for most houses on the Michigan Tech campus there has been a tangible decrease in membership, inter-community ties and community traditions. Not only do few members of the Greek community like to admit these facts, there is such an aversion to the notion that the news editor will probably get a large number of letters next week vehemently flaming this statement. The conjecture is, however, true.

There are a number of reasons for this, many of which deal with the Greek community’s image and with the media that supports that image. Does the Greek community deserve the image they are branded with (everyone likes to cite National Lampoon’s “Animal House”)? No and Yes. Do the community’s actions sometimes reflect these stereotypes? Yes, sometimes they do.

Does the entire community act in the stereotypical manner? The answer is a very solid “no.” The fact that there is the social stigma against the Greek community on the MTU campus, however, has spurred the Greek Affairs office into action. The last 12 months have seen the slow progression of change in the Student Affairs office, and the momentum is increasing.

First was a Greek Coalition formed in the spring of 2006 to quietly address perceived internal issues with the Greek community. Out of the group’s discussions grew the seed of change, and it was planted in the mind of Greek Life’s newest addition, Jason Bergeron. Bergeron, in his third semester now at Tech, is a transplant from Kent State University where he was positioned as a Graduate Intern with Baldwin Wallace University. He worked in BWU’s Center for Alcohol and Related-issues Education. As a CARE intern, Bergeron served as, among other duties, a co-advisor on the Coalition to Reduce High-Risk Drinking and Boosting Awareness Communication & Cooperation for the Health of University Students.

As the new Assistant Director of Student Activities, Greek Life and Leadership, Bergeron acts as advisor to the Inter-Fraternity Council, Pan-Hellenic Council and the Greek Coalition. He also provides leadership training and counseling to Greek students in leadership roles. “There was really a need for some cultural changes,” stated Bergeron in an interview recently. “I think […] with the emergence of this position on campus, there is a definite strong level of support.” He hasn’t taken this new position lying down, either. This last school year has seen a number of new initiatives.

First was the Fall 2006 Greek Summit. The event was hallmarked by two events. First was a very riveting presentation by keynote speaker Mike McRee. McRee is the Vice President of LeaderShape, an organization which, among other things, runs a one-week seminar every winter break at Tech to teach and promote strong leadership skills. His speech, entitled “That’s Frat-tastic!” expounded on the details of the common Greek stereotype and the need for Greek communities to change their image.

The second notable part of the summit was a survey. The Greek Perceptions Survey was administered to determine the status of non-Greek perceptions on campus. The resounding answer was rather negative, students having issues with areas of Greek life such as recruitment (pushing it too much), partying (happens too much) and scholarship. What is interesting to note is the fact that the survey was distributed to students via a handful of Resident Assistants chosen by the Greek Affairs office. These RAs then distributed the surveys to residents they judged as being competent and able to take the survey seriously, according to Bergeron during a meeting held the second day of the summit.

Also interesting to note is part of a transcript of the Sept. 27, 2006 University Senate meeting in which Bergeron introduced a faculty version of the survey (http://www.sas.it.mtu.edu/usenate/minute/07/441m.htm). In the minutes Bergeron responds to a question, stating that responses to the survey are to be used to redefine standards. There are other questions by Senate members, addressing the delivery system of the survey (it was to be done by hand instead of by email) and a lack of professional assessment (it had not yet been processed by the Research Compliance office – Human Subjects Committee).

The next major event happened this semester during a February Greek Coalition meeting. At this meeting the Greek Affairs office announced its intent to form a community relationship agreement development task force. The relationship agreement would fill the gaps in administration/Greek community affairs and provide a solid set of guidelines for the community to follow. It would be composed of 12 members, to be selected by the Greek Affairs office and represent a mix of local/national organization and fraternities/sororities. There would also be a mix of students and organization advisors.

Reception of the task force was mixed. Sara Wessner, president of Alpha Delta Alpha, along with brothers from Beta Sigma Theta, Tau Kappa Epsilon and Sigma Pi, all questioned why the Greek student members of the task force were to be selected by the Greek Affairs office rather than the Inter-Fraternity Council/Pan-Hellenic Council. No clear response was given by the Greek Affairs representatives. The coalition members also asked how the agreement was to be ratified, to which there was no set schedule.

The Task Force members include: Rachel Scherzer (Relationship Statement Student Coordinator), Megan Hess (Chapter Presidents), Nicole Young (Inter-Fraternity Council), Sara Wesner (Inter-Fraternity Council), Aimee Erickson (Pan-Hellenic Council), Ryan Raymond (Coalition for Greek Advancement), Ted Yonke (Coalition for Greek Advancement), Travis Pierce (Chapter Advisors) and Jason Bergeron (Assistant Director for Greek Life). The ad hoc members of the task force are Jen O’Connell (Director of Student Activities), Christine Erickson (Associate Vice President for Student Life), Luke Andert (Midwest Consultant, Sigma Pi Fraternity) and Megan Cosner (Educational Leadership Consultant, Delta Zeta Sorority).

Now four of six meetings in, Bergeron is very positive about the status of the task force and its work toward a better Greek community. “The first thing we talked about was academics,” Bergeron said. The task force has spent much of their time on academics, having identified the current basic academic standards for the school and individual Greek houses, and then identifying five target schools with similar academic programs to be able to compare our performance against and set a benchmark off of. These universities include Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Georgia institute of Technology and Lehigh University. They also collected information from seven technological institutions (identified as heavy in engineering and science), which include Purdue, Carnegie-Mellon, Johns Hopkins and Case Western Reserve Universities. All of the identified schools are shown in the presentation materials to have higher GPA performance (with the exception of the Greek-women average at Florida Institute of Technology) and either equal or greater academic maintenance standards.

These statistics suggest that it is imperative that the MTU Greek community increase their standards in order to show a moral and academic superiority to the average student, and the current draft of the relationship statement does just that. Under the guidelines set forth in the statement (which is still currently in draft form), a new member will need to possess a 2.25 cumulative GPA to begin pledging. Current members of organizations will be required to meet this standard two semesters after ratification of the document, and the houses themselves will need to maintain a 2.50 overall cumulative-GPA in order to keep in good standing with the University.

Academics is only one of many topics discussed in the current draft (as of Apr. 5) of the agreement. Also discussed is membership recruitment, service and philanthropy, chapter communication, advisory and resource support, and, of course, general expectations.

Amazingly, very few members of the Greek community know much, if anything at all, about the status of the task force and the relationship statement. When asked what her knowledge of the relationship statement was, Delta Zeta member Amanda Beck simply replied, “Absolutely nothing.” This effect can be seen community-wide. “This is the first time I’m really hearing about this,” stated Isabella DiMarco, a sister at Alpha Delta Alpha. Michelle Murphy, a sister of Alpha Gamma Delta, agreed, “I really don’t understand why we know so little about this.”

Bergeron was enlightening in his interview. When asked about allegations that the task force members were told not to disclose any of the information in the relationship statement, he stated, “It’s piecey right now, it’s not complete. We’d rather present a complete package. […] The idea is that this is a draft, but, and we talk about paralysis by analysis, when suddenly there’s five million people looking at the document, is this going to be a semester-long project or is it going to be a three-year-long project?” While he was reluctant to turn over a copy of the current relationship statement draft (because it’s fractured and hard to digest), one was provided for analysis for this article. What is present in the current draft is actually very concrete and structured – it shows coherent thought and should be an excellent discussion topic over the next year before it will be suggested for ratification by the Inter-Fraternity and Pan-Hellenic Councils.

What is yet to be determined, however, is just what the Greek community will be told and when information on this and future administrative decisions actions will be released. The lack of concern for the timely dissemination of information to the Greek community could be an issue in the semesters to come for the Greek Affairs office.