Quote:
Originally Posted by 33girl
The Greek system just became re-recognized after how many years?? I'm glad you guys are feeling positive, but seriously, in that situation, I wouldn't trust promises of a Greek Row in the "near future" any further than I could throw them.
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Hi! Thank you for your comment — and I apologize. If you go to our college, you’ve learned to take it for granted that when the president says he’s going to do something, he’s going to do it. And that becomes so ingrained that you forget other people won’t be so willing to do the same.
And, while it unfortunately doesn’t mention our Greek System, I figured The New York Times was as great a back-up I could get on this, so please check it out if you don’t want to go on what I’m saying alone:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/05/ny...=1&oref=slogin
So, in 1988, F&M’s Board of Trustees voted to derecognize our Greek System, following a series of “various offenses” (campus rumor has these including severe hazing and a rape) and the Greeks refusal to adopt the reforms the college thought necessary. Consequently, the college saw the organizations as a liability and moved to ensure, basically, that it couldn’t be sued for whatever they got up to. I believe there was also the dream that, without the college’s support, the system would wither and die. Instead, it flourished.
So when our current president, John Fry, took office in 2002, he found himself in the position where a significant percentage of his students were joining a system that resulted at least in a drop in their grades, and was probably hazing them intensely. He also had alumni who wouldn’t donate to the college because their organizations were de-recognized (and Greeks seem to be the most reliable donors, probably because, through their organizations, they feel a closer tie to the college). It wasn’t a good situation, and President Fry decided he was going to fix it. Quickly. Because that’s what he does.
Re-recognition officially occurred in 2004. It featured deferred pledging (no freshmen could pledge until spring of their freshmen year) and a GPA requirement for pledging. Additionally, the school averages the spring GPAs of the freshmen in a spring pledge class. The class as a whole has to hit a 2.7 for the organization to take freshmen the following spring. Consequently, new member education now sees all organizations running study halls, and, for the most part, the fraternities hit that mark. And the sororities surpass it. The school also requires new members to attend presentations on hazing and on substance abuse, and has introduced a website where students can anonymously support hazing. So it’s been a huge change in only two years. And frankly, looking back on it, the only things that’s surprising about that is that it took President Fry 2 years to do it (although he did have very reluctant faculty and community members, and he had to come up with a program the school, the alumni, and the current Greek collegians could agree on, so I suppose that took time).
And huge changes in two years is the norm for our president. For example, I toured F&M in Summer 2003. Since that time, the president’s overseen the creation of a new bookstore and coffee shop; completely redone our dining services (several times, actually); built a Writers House, an International Center, new apartments for upperclassmen, a huge new life sciences building, a performing arts building with theater, a turf field, new tennis courts, redone the lounges in the residences, and added a beautiful new addition to one of our Houses to give its residents a common space. Oh, and he transformed our residential system: We went from residence halls to a House System (think Harry Potter).
This fall, the college will open a new center for Jewish life, an addition to a second House, and a Sustainability Theme House. And students will be living in houses off-campus that the College has purchased and is renovating as I type. In the spring, our government and business departments will move into a building that has been completely renovated for their use.
And I’m absolute positive I’m forgetting many of President Fry’s accomplishments.
So, why did we believe our president when he said we’d have a house through the school very soon? Well … because our president said we’d have a house through the school very soon.
Sorry that was so long, but I hope it clears that question up!