Hello all! I've been reading the forums here for a few months, having been so darn curious about the inner workings of Greek Life on other campuses, and I can't tell you all how much I've learned. The knowledge I've gained here has aided me in my deliberation and decision making SOOO much in the past few years, and I'm glad that Greeks could come together and discuss these issues with so little friction or hostility. Moreover, my campus HAS had such friction recently, so this resource is even more helpful as I can be assured that I'm not the only one that wants questions answered. Now, down to business....
I apologize for the rant to follow. It's been months of ridiculousness, and I can barely decide what to believe given ALL the information I have already. Consider this my grand introduction to the forums (as this is as grandiose as my posts will [hopefully] ever be). Here goes:
First, a little background on my situation. I'm a junior going to a small private college in the Midwest. I joined my chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia in Fall of 2005 as a new Freshman. Since then, I've grown to love my chapter, in the same way I know many of you have. I've always been extremely interested in Greek origins, the strength of our Brotherhood, Greek Life, the social impact of the Greek Experience, as well as the great leadership opportunities that has come with it all.
At the beginning of Spring '07, our chapter was contacted by the President of a new organizations, the "Greek Council". It was just started the year before, and already consisted of the other 5 biggest social GLO's on campus (2 NIC fraternities and 3 NPC Sororities). We had been approached even earlier about this, but there was much talk within our senior members about excessive rule-making and restrictions that could hinder our growth, so we declined the invitation quickly. This new invitation was given significantly more thought. At it's roots, the constitution for this new Greek Council (further labeled "GC") outlined what was essentially a programming Board, allowing the Social Greeks of our campus to cooridnate in a way that had never been acheived before. In it's first year, it created our first Greek Week, and fostered a larger sense of Greek Unity. At the end of the Spring Semester, assured that our previous worries of forming an overbearing Greek Government were false ,we decided to join. We were officially put on the roster beginning in October '07.
Since then, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia had been an active member of the group. We invited more Greeks to our events, cleared up our misconceptions about some of the other Greek groups, and were ourselves being invited to many functions and events. We were finally being recognized as the Social Fraternity that we currently are. During the elections that December, I was elected President of GC (which is still, to this date, the only time I've won an election
), and another Sinfonian was elected Secretary (we became half of the existing Exec Board). This semester we were sworn into our positions and functioned normally. For an added note, I'd like to say that we were doing great, creating an environment for a LOT of conversation about Greek topics and planning what I believe will still be an AMAZING Greek Week for the Fall.
Now to the part that matters (I know, FINALLY, right?). In February, an initiative was created called the Greek Task Force. It was meant to help identify our ideals as a Greek Community and then enhance them with the help of what was termed as a "Relationship Statement". We were told that most campuses have something like this....a list of GLO standards and restrictions that we must all live by. I certainly agree with having a document like this around. The Greek Task Force was comprised of 3 members from each of the 6 chapters in Greek Council, as a way to guage each chapter's overall opinion. During the biweekly meetings, we started creating a lot of standards, like an increased minimum GPA, higher required attendance to Greek events, and increased attendance to leadership conferences. Midway through March, I was contacted by the Assistant Dean of Student Activities, asking if he could come to our Sunday Meeting to explain about Greek Council and greek task Force, since so many people in my chapter still didn't know what I had been doing with these organizations. That Sunday, he showed up promptly, though with the Director of Student Affairs, Dean of Students, and the Asst. Dean of Students (which I wasn't told about). At that time, we were informed that Greek Council was being dissolved, a new Greek Leadership Council was being formed, and that we weren't to be a part of it. The new Council would consist of everyone in the previous Council, except Phi Mu Alpha. The rationale was about the NIC. The letter we were given (which was a paragraph and a three point timeline) stated, "The Greek Council, which will be evolving into the Greek Leadership Council (GLC), will serve the needs of nationally affiliated, social organizations that belong to national social governing bodies, such as [NPC], [NIC], [NPHC], and [NALFO]." Regarding us, I was told that we'd be a part of a separate organization, which will give us the "opportunity to partner with other other organizations that have similar expectations." Examples of other such organizations were ΣΑΙ and ΑΦΩ. Besides the exclusion of Phi Mu Alpha, a local Sorority is being dissolved. All of this was extremely abrupt and was done with no Student Interaction. I just would have thought students would be told about a change of this magnitude before it was enforced.
All of this is not including a lot of additional side converations and meetings that clarified a lot, but I come to the same ultimate issue... Phi Mu Alpha is not in the NIC. According to the 4 administrators that are pushing this, not being in the NIC is enough reason not to be a part of the Greek Council's new IFC branch. I can't seem to figure out how not being in the NIC makes us so clearly separate form everyone else. We can't help woth Greek Week, we're not allowed to Greek Council Meetings, and....I got kicked out of the Presidency just weeks into my term. Obviously, I'm a bit peeved. Not being familiar with other campuses, this is where my questions arise.
1. For those with situations like this, is the IFC (or similar group) exclusive to NIC Fraternities?
2. For those more familiar with Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, is that chapter in your IFC? If not, is it a part of some other advisory board?
3. Opinion time....Am I wrong for being pissed about all of this? I know I'm probably taking it too personally, but it was like a slap in the face. The new board will be exactly like the old one, but without Phi Mu Alpha, and for a reason that just seems so arbitrary...to not be a part of a national social governing body. I've checked the NIC Risk Management policies and general regulations. Phi Mu Alpha's is every bit as strict, and just as comprehensive. I just feel like the only difference on the local level is that our national dues are currently $67 per semester, and everyone else pays hundreds.
Look at that! I started the post happy, and now I'm frustrated all over again. Well, I applaud you if you managed to read that whole mess. i suppose part of this was venting, but most of this is truly about asking people what they think, and if anyone has experience with Greek Councils/Campus Greek interactions/Relationship Statements. I need all the information I can get. Next week, I have meetings with the VP of the College, all 4 administrators that initiated this ridiculousness, and each of the other GLO Exec boards. I've been doing a lot of research, but that doesn't cover other campuses at all.
Any feedback in welcome.....so very welcome
Thanks you all SOOO much for your time,
SinfonianChad
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