Looking to Bring Greek Life to my University
 

Hello all! I am a student at USFSP and looking to start from the ground up concerning the development and creation of Greek Colonies and Chapters at my University.

Currently, our administration is strictly opposed to the creation of any Greek Life that is "discriminatory." Based on the school's legislature, the only basis for "discrimination" is the fact that some greek organizations are not co-ed. We currently offer Greek Organizations, such as Delta Sigma Pi, that are based on academic principles as well as being co-ed.

The issue that I am having a hard time facing is that USFSP is infringing upon our right to assemble. I hate to play the legal card, which is why I am seeking help. Have any of you personally experienced, or are very knowledgeable, about swaying the University's opinion concerning the foundation of gender specific (or social) greek organizations?

I would appreciate any help I receive :) Thank you in advance!

You are going to have a very difficult, if not impossible, time bringing national groups to a campus with an anti-Greek administration. If you still plan to pursue, your first step will be to gather a large group of women who are as interested in this endeavor as you are. Good luck.

I don't think you're going to see Greek Life at the school during your time there, given the set of facts that has been presented. You might find your time better spent pursuing other activities. For Greek Life to thrive, it is essential to have a somewhat supportive administration.

Before people come on here to point out that there are a smattering of Greek Systems that are not officially recognized by their universities, I'd like to remind you all that the Florida State University System (home of UF/FSU/UCF/USF/etc.) is not, and will never be, Harvard.

If I were the OP, I would not waste my time trying to bring Greek Life to an administration that is opposed.

Can someone from Florida explain - is this a former branch campus that has just become a 4-year school?

If the majority of the student population still transfers to a main campus after 2 years, it is going to be hard to encourage groups to colonize there - whether the administration is in favor of it or against it.

Here's some info from their website:
Our Students

Number of residential students: 457
Total undergraduate enrollment: 6,000
Total home-campus undergraduates: 3,780
Graduate enrollment: 397
Non-degree seeking enrollment: 173
Average high school GPA: 3.59
Average SAT: 1098
Average ACT: 24

This doesn't read to me as a school that would be looking for Greek Life. The residential students vs total students reads to me as a commuter school. While there are campuses with large commuter populations with Greek systems, it's a pretty big challenge. I did think from the website that the school is working on developing a sense of community and therefore they might be supportive of adding something that would keep students on campus. And Greek life could of course be part of that.

I'd start, after discussing with the school administration, by finding out if there are enough women to put together an interest group. If you can't get 25 or 30 women to gather on a weekly basis to work on this project, you're not ready.

Yes, but the transition is not quite so recent. It became its own university 5+ years ago.

Well, that to me (in terms of seeing whether it can sustain Greek life/a primarily residential student population) is "recent." The first freshmen entering after it was on its own would only have graduated in 2010 at the earliest.

Comments...
 

First of all, I find it bizarre that USFSP would talk about discriminatory greeks, when the USF main campus appear to have a fairly standard Social Greek system including groups NIC, NPC, NPHC and a couple of other Umbrellas.

But I do agree that with only 457 residential students, that social greek life is unlikely.

Undergrad enrollment is 6,000. I believe the term "residential students" refers to students living on-campus.

Yes, we know that. We're not talking about total enrollment. With less than 10% of the students living on campus, any group would have to show that they can overcome that issue and still stay together. That is, they need to create an interest group and keep it going for a couple years. I doubt very much that the school said anything about "discrimination."

It was always a branch campus; I think now it's autonomous from USF. I don't think people are transferring from those schools as much as they would from a typical community college. They're just commuters--people with families or students living at home to save money and not just as a way to get to FSU or UF like it was in the past.

I find the "discrimination" explanation fishy...almost sounds like the brothel law explanation. :mad:

Agreed.

I don't think that legal card will get you very far. Your right of free association would only being infringed upon if the school took disciplinary action against you because you joined a Greek organization. There is nothing that requires the school to recognize social Greek organizations. There is (presumably) nothing that prevents you from joining an organization that is not recognized by the school -- assuming any such organizations want to establish unrecognized chapters.

BTW, a quick Google search turned up a 2008 strategic plan for USFSP that listed introducing Greek life as an action to be considered/taken. Any idea on the status of that?

Hey guys, thanks for your input. I'd like to provide a little bit of clarification on my original statement.

USFSP is expanding every year, and just because we are mainly a commuter campus doesn't necessarily mean that we wouldn't be able to retain an interested group/party.

When I was referring to the "discrimination" - USFSP actually has a policy in place for the Office of Student Life and Engagement that basically stipulates that any organization is not permitted to start if it discriminates on gender, race, religion, ect. Being that Sororities and Fraternities open up membership to specific genders, greek organizations essentially violate USFSP's policy. However, I have been informed that there is a federal law that allows for collegiate organizations to form that are gender specific. I have been able to speak more with our administration and more and more are becoming in favor to opening up our campus to greek organizations, but it will take more than just the admins saying okay. We are in the process of compiling information about other universities in the area that are to the same scale as us (i.e. FAU, UCF, ect.) so we can further present out desire to bring greek organizations to the University.

Remember, nothing is impossible :)

UCF's Greek system has been around for over 40 years and began when times were a LOT different. Try looking outside the state for schools more similar to yours who have created a Greek system in the last 5-10 years or so.