I cannot find any articles about fraternities at CU-Boulder wanting to go independent, but in just 5 minutes of searching I found 4 articles (perhaps there are more out there) that might shed some light on this,
First, here is a link to an April 11, 2006 article about an 18 year old who was found dead in his dorm after staying at a fraternity party until the early hours of the morning,
http://www.kusa.com/acm_news.aspx?OS...7-c589c01ca7bf
Next, here is a quick 2-2-06 article about a major national GLO suspending 27 of its 29 active members for hazing- with no disclosure of what exactly happened. But contrary to what some might think, no GLO "likes" to basically shut down a chapter and you can bet it was not something minor that led to this,
http://www.kusa.com/acm_news.aspx?OS...7-c589c01ca7bf
This one blows me away. Not even at U. Texas have I ever seen anything like this. The article is dated 9-27-05 and reports that after 2 large fraternity parties, NINE women who attended ended up in the hospital with alcohol poisoning (yes all that same night!) All were underage. In response, CU declared there would be no more fraternity parties at any chapters for the remainder of the semester,
http://www.kusa.com/acm_news.aspx?OS...7-c589c01ca7bf
This one is older, but could hold a clue to why fraternities at CU want to go independent. From 9-16-04, a pledge dies right after school starts (during rush according to the article) after being left in the wilderness with his pledge brothers where they had to drink 4 handles (1.75L bottles) of whisky, and several bottles of wine before being retrieved and brought back to the house for a keg party. In response to this incident, CU put an end to fall rush for freshmen- now sophomores only (note- I do not know if this rule is still in place.)
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/m..._7/ai_n6367494
So my question is this, do fraternities want to go independent at UC because the University is hindering Greeks from the below quoted stated purpose that FratAmerica has posted?,
"Greek Life augments higer education, though we are not higher education. We teach life skills, not trivial expertise. We provide our members with leadership experience and represent the greatest collegiate youth development movement in our nation." [And to FratAmerica- please clarify if these are your words or a stated position of Greeks at large. I am not meaning to attack your position if this is not how you feel.]
Or do the Greeks want to go independent because rush got pushed to sophomore year after a kid died, and the University has been disrupting Greek social life when 9 women end up in the hospital in one evening?
If you read the articles, however, it becomes clear that the headquarters of the GLO's involved have also taken a stand in these matters.
So what it boils down to is that the two organizations that provide the basis for these Greek Houses to exist (the college and GLO headquarters) are cracking down. These are also the two organizations that provide the Greek Houses with a basis for recruitment (affiliation with a college and a social organization with professed ideals to build a college student into a productive man) and a lot of the funding, insurance and other support that keeps a Greek House going.
The college and the GLO are also putting their reputation on the line for these houses- and an appearance in the newspaper when bad things happen casts a shadow on hundreds of thousands of people nationwide who are students or alums of UC, and active members or alums of the GLO at all its chapters.
Frankly, if a Greek system wants to go independent so they can keep on engaging in dangerous and illegal activity- that is fine with me. This is America after all.
But give back your letters too and come up with your own. If you want to do whatever you want all the time, then you need to pay for it and not rest on the reputation of your college and your existing GLO to convince students and their parents' wallets to support you.
The few articles I found on CU in a short time do not tell the tale of isolated incidents. They tell the tale of a broken Greek system. What more is out there that I did not find in my quick search?
In other threads I have said Greeks often face unfair scrutiny and intervention when isolated incidents happen. And I still feel that way.
But when I see these kinds of repeated incidents that are being strongly dealt with by colleges AND GLO headquarters, that is not indicative of isolated incidents. It speaks to a larger problem.
And again- if local chapters and alumni want to support that kind of problem, fine by me. But don't do it in the name of my college or my GLO. My dues and alumni support are not here to support a club where drinking is the primary reason for being.
Personally I don't think going independent will work. Sure, some organizations with lots of local old money alum will be able to keep going, but the average college students for whom fraternity life is not a required step on the social ladder is going to be a hard sell (to say nothing of Mom and Dad) when it comes to shelling out big bucks for a social organization that offers nothing more than a place to get trashed.