NIC "Open Expansion"
 

So my IFC E-Board came back not too long ago from an IFC Regional Conference, and one of the things discussed there was the NIC "Open Expansion" Policy which states:

http://www.nicindy.org/standards/sta..._for_campuses/

Because of this, my IFC believes that we can't turn away any fraternity that is interested in coming on this campus. Now don't get me wrong, I'm a huge advocate for Greek Life and served on IFC two years ago, but Greek Life at my campus is not big (despite us being a big campus), and if we just allow any fraternities to come on board, our greek system will be diluted with lesser quality people and these orgs will struggle to stay afloat and probably close down after a couple years, not to mention we have a few strugglers now and it makes more sense for the IFC & the Office of Fraternity & Sorority Life to concentrate on helping them first before allowing 2 or 3 new fraternities to come on board (we regularly get that many requests each year).

I honestly can't believe that the NIC really demands from its campuses that we just allow any org to come here and start up a local chapter, especially considering that it could potentially be detrimental to our greek system here as a whole. Can anyone offer me some suggestions on what to do here? More specifically, if you have any concrete proof that says that we do not have to be 24/7 open to expansion, that would be great because I could show that to my Greek Advisor and we can all breathe a collective sigh of relief.

Thanks!!

It seems to me that the school's rules trump the NIC rules, as they would any umbrella or individual organization.

It seems that this rule prohibits the campus IFC from making the determination, but the school itself can still make the decision of what's in the best interest of the campus.

Am I wrong?

I think it would depend on whether or not all members of the campus IFC were NIC. I don't know, but it they are would they be bound by the rule?

I do think any NIC would think long and hard before starting a colony on a hostile campus - it takes a great deal of time and money to start from scratch.

I should have clicked the link first.... it says "Standards for Campuses" big as day.... I'll have to read this more closely, but I don't think it changes my opinion so far.

The way I understood it, though I'm not sure if I'm correct, is that if a campus is open to expansion you can't bar anyone who wants to colonize from colonizing. I didn't think this meant anyone could colonize at any time. Before I joined Delta Chi, I looked into starting a new NIC colony on my campus and most expansion programs need support from the IFC and Greek Adviser to get off the ground.

The way its been portrayed to me here is that we opened up for expansion in Spring 2007 when my fraternity colonized and will be open until Spring 2010. Since we colonized, AKL and SAE came in the 2007-2008 year. Last Fall one group failed to colonize and the group that is currently trying to colonize has very low membership goals, so we prercieve greek life to be coming to a natural satturation point.

Of course this is just how I've understood the process to work, I don't claim to be an expert.

This is how I understood it.

On my campus, there is a rule that no council can take on additional colonies if there is already one organization in colony status (ex. if ODPhi is currently classified as a colony, LTPhi can't come on campus).

Also, if the school has minimum standards for membership and GLOs, that should prevent lesser people (whatever that means) and organizations from "diluting" the system.

I don't know if that makes a difference. Who is the NIC to say what a University's administration can or cannot do?

Okay, but what that actually says, the way I read it, is that the national org can select undergrads for the PURPOSE of establishing a chapter, and that if a chapter is actually established, it cannot be barred from IFC. It doesn't say anywhere that the chapter must be established. Students can be selected, they can petition for a chapter, but it never says that that petition has to be granted by anyone, only that if they do become a chapter, they must be allowed to participate in IFC.

I agree, that is the way I read it as well. When I used to work for my universities student development center I was told that if you went to a public university they could not prohibit you from forming an organization or colony because it is your right to assemble, not so at a privately funded university.

They can't prohibit you from forming an organization, but a campus can dictate whether or not it's recognized (ex. you must have x number of members, all student organization members must have a 2.5 GPA, etc)

Here's the way it works.
1. Federal law permits a fraternity to organize on the campus of a public university. No law requires the IFC to recognize any fraternity. Of course, everyone has to be sensitive to due process. See: the Freedom of Association Act of 1996.

2. The NIC tries to influence it's member chapters, and by extension the local IFC, to embrace expansion. The theory is that aggressive, new fraternities will energize the student population and enhance the overall standing and strength of fraternities. There is truth to this. Most fraternities that fail do so becasue no one wants to join. They're not a good "product". A new fraternity on campus can be an exciting and attractive product.

3. A private university is not held to all these requirements. For instance, a private school can declare deferred rush and make it stick. A public university would be challenged, probably with success, if they tried to impose deferred rush.

4. NIC is a weak organization, and does not have the authority or power to enforce its declarations on any campus. They depend on their ability to influence the various IFCs through persuasion.

What?

What he means is that anyone willing to colonize is able to do so (at a public university) but the campus' IFC/Greek Office may or may not recognize them. For example two fraternities on my campus were formed earlier but were not recognized and admitted to the IFC until 2006.

Yea, several posters have already said that.

I was questioning the "official" part.

I think he means "officially recognized"

But recognized by who? IFC or the university? That's what we're trying to figure out here.

We probably need to wait for him to clarify instead of speculating.

Any PRIVATE school administration can regulate fraternity expansion, NIC rules prohibit IFCs from doing so. At public schools, Constitutional rights of free association trump everything.

Actually, one member of NIC can demand sanctions against another member org if that fraternity does not take action against a chapter that votes against open campus in IFC.

Creating a fraternity does not mean that fraternity will be recognized by the school, even a public one.

In my post that you quoted, I was making a point that NIC has no authority over what a school can do. NIC only has power over local IFCs.

That's true. Public schools are allowed to have standards and requirements for access to benefits/recognition.

NIC members can be sanctioned, including being kicked out of NIC, for the actions of individual chapters on this issue. If fraternity ABC has a chapter at State U that votes against expansion, fraternity ABC could demand (and NIC could enforce) that State U chapter lose their charter. That is extreme of course, but possible. I know it has been discussed before. If a private school has no expansion policy, and IFC prohibits expansion, the same scenario would apply. I know I've been approached, and have approached other fraternities on this subject.

A public school can have standards for recognizing student organizations, but if they recognize one fraternity, they can't ban others, EXCEPT for cause, ie, ABC could be banned for five years because of repeated hazing violations, but not because an administrator (or IFC) decided that there were "too many fraternities"

From the NIC website:


Will the NIC have authority to discipline chapters or individual members?

Simply stated, no. The NIC is completely focused on its member fraternities, not their chapters or members.

Why is there a Campus Expectation included in the Standards and how will compliance be achieved?

The NIC has no power to mandate changes at any host institution. However, many campus presidents have indicated that they are willing to bring resources and reform to the table to assist member fraternities in improving chapters. The Campus Expectations assist our chapters in being highly functional organizations that bring pride to the campus.

Compliance with the Standards will be achieved through extended dialogue and negotiation.


http://www.nicindy.org/standards/faq/

How are NPC sororities able to expand in the way that they do? If the campus or local panhellenic doesn't feel that a new sorority is needed, they can pass up on a new NPC.

No disrespect intended but this is just wrong. The chances of any good national allowing the NIC to discipline or supend one of its chapters for virtually any reason is less than the chance of me being elected homecoming queen. Nationals DO try to influence their chapters regarding free expansion, and the NIC does play a positive role in this, but the NIC has no enforcement power of any kind. I suppose they could always kic out a national, but there are always Nationals who threaten to drop out - I think Phi Delt, SAE, Pike and maybe others did drop out at various times becasue they were unhappy with the NIC's weak stance on various issues.
That said, I do strongly support the idea of free expansion and I'm glad the various Nationals and the NIC are aggressive in support of that policy. But...I saw recently our own IFC vote down a fraternity that had come off suspension. The small fraternities voted against them becasue they either wanted their land or becasue they didn't wnat increased competition. My chapter and other large fraternities voted to reinstate them but couldn't get enough votes. The applying fraternity appealed to the university and the administrators reinstated them on appeal.

NIC could sanction the national, not the individual chapter or IFC.
From the NIC Bylaws

Section 3 . Followup of Standards. The Board of Directors, by a two-thirds vote of all its members, may expel, or impose lesser disciplinary action which the Board may determine to be appropriate under the circumstances, against the offender for conduct or activity found by the Board to be in violation of Article X Section 1. Lesser Disciplinary action may include, but is not limited to; fines, public censure, or a period of suspension of voting rights.