DePauw Establishes Fact - Finding Commission on Greek Life

[exlurker]

DePauw (okay, Indiana Asbury for you Thetas and Alpha Chis) is known for the high percentage of its students in fraternities and sororities. The DePauw trustees recently voted unanimously to set up a fact-finding commission as a first step in looking at Greek life and its contribution to DePauw's mission.

See news release at:

http://www.depauw.edu/news/index.asp?id=17449

See also the link in the news release. The link is entitled "Read About the Greek-Fact Finding Commission" and it leads to a letter (in PDF) from DePauw's president giving background and a timetable. Background includes the physical condition of some of the fraternity houses, two "major" hazing incidents in the past year, two instances of "major issues" with alcohol abuse in the month of April (presumably April '06, one with a fraternity, one with a sorority), and Greek and non-Greek hospitalizations due to alcohol consumption.

I can't predict where this will lead, but I assume that GLOs with chapters at DePauw will be keeping tabs on developments.

[Firehouse]

Of course you can predict where this will lead. It will lead exactly where the leadership has already determined it will go. DePauw is private. I don't know anything about the school but I"ll lay you odds that:
1) the admninistration is liberal-left;
2) the administration wants the land occupied by existing fraternity/sorority houses;
3) the "major incidents" cited are nothing new or different from what has already transpired among healthy young college kids for generations;
4) significant, involved, advocates for the greek system will be absent from the "commission". The only hope for a greek system under attack in this way is political power. I hope the greeks there have some of it.

[33girl]

Originally posted by Firehouse
Of course you can predict where this will lead. It will lead exactly where the leadership has already determined it will go. DePauw is private. I don't know anything about the school but I"ll lay you odds that:
1) the admninistration is liberal-left;
2) the administration wants the land occupied by existing fraternity/sorority houses;
3) the "major incidents" cited are nothing new or different from what has already transpired among healthy young college kids for generations;
4) significant, involved, advocates for the greek system will be absent from the "commission". The only hope for a greek system under attack in this way is political power. I hope the greeks there have some of it.

Considering the school is like 80% Greek (or something ridiculously huge like that) and the majority of the alumni who donate are also Greek, they'd shoot themselves in the foot to do much of anything. And they've got to know that.

Guessing this is just something to shut up the geeks and feminazis and pretend like something is being done. /Erik Conard

[TSteven]

Originally posted by 33girl
Considering the school is like 80% Greek (or something ridiculously huge like that) and the majority of the alumni who donate are also Greek, they'd shoot themselves in the foot to do much of anything. And they've got to know that.

I so agree with 33girl.

Both President [Robert G.] Bottoms and James B. Stewart [chair of the University's Board of Trustees] stressed that the greek system is integral to the University's culture and part of the uniqueness of the DePauw experience.

[Firehouse]

With great and genuine respect for both of you, TSteven and 33girl, I have some experience in this arena. Private and liberal institutions are famously hostile to Greeks. Watch this unfold:
First, they'll say that the greeks are "intregal...etc...unique...etc" -as you said. Then the commission will undertake to investigate the nature of the current culture and how it applies to today sensibilities of "diversity and inclusion". And they'll try to "envision" what an inclusive and appropriate greek system would look like if it was perfect. The "reformed" greek system will have no houses, may not have national affiliations, may not be single-sex, may not bear any resemblence to what we know today. And the alumni will follow the lead of the school, unless someone stands up and say "hell no!"
Read about Williams College.
Read about "self-selection" at Davidson College.
Read about the elimination of residential housing for Greeks at Vanderbilt [and why it was done].
No more time now.

[g41965]

Firehouse makes some good points. Private Universities tend to think greeks are anti intellectual.

[SmartBlondeGPhB]

My private university and the large % of Greeks co-exist just fine. They do realize that the Greeks are the ones giving the money. Of course, it helps when the President isn't anti-Greek as the last one was.

[Rudey]

It's all about how they frame their argument.

If they say fraternities are big trouble, they won't get anywhere.

If they say Greeks are great and have done so much and these are their strengths and we think we should encourage them to emphasize those strengths, that's a whole other story.

Really, it's a PR game where you focus on the positive and not the negative. That campus has had a lot of incidents which can either be called "Boys being boys" or trouble waiting to happen.

-Rudey

[D.0.7]

As an alumni of my college and my fraternity as well im really getting sick and tired of Adminstration, and many others such as the board of trustees getting involved in matters that most of them have no knowledge of and its greek life. I know that the board of trustess; you want them to be happy because its the old old money that the college gets to help out with resources, but its always being tangle over the greeks head, and we are always the target. I admit there has not been the best reputation when it comes to greeks but after all when they accepted us into their insitution they vowed to let us have an individual experience that we will never foget, and to trust in our good judgement in the decisions that we make, but instead college students and greeks are getting the slient treatment when it comes to decisions making. I guess colleges and univerisites dont understand that if every student wanted to leave and move to another campus there will be no college, and its not just happening at your school, but at my alma mater as well and im sick and tired of it. The president of the college is greek, and i know he has to make both students, and the board of trustess happy but in the end who is effected by it the most the student or the old old money?........

[Tom Earp]

As some have said, "IF" the President is a Greek, it means a lot more than if they arent.

I am sure that if Some Colleges such as Alfred in NY who did away with Greeks all together stillhave students enrolling as do the others.

But, if say for example, My LXA Chapter was no longer there, I would never go back to it and visit. I would never spend My money going to Foot Ball games, spend money at the game, never rent a motel while I was there, go to a bar or resturant, have a rented area for a party and hire a caterer and Their help, or even buy gas in the town.

But, that is just Me and I am only one out of 600 + Alums.

[dpufiji]

Being a DePauw student, this is all quite interesting (and important) to me.

The Fact Finding commission was started for a few reasons. This past year, one house wasn't allowed to initiate it's new members due to hazing violations, another house now has a representative from nationals living in the house due to hazing violations from last year, one house is going under investigation from nationals, another house's president got arrested for driving the wrong way on a one-way while intoxicated. At DePauw, it's almost become a norm anymore for a house to get busted for hazing violations during a school year.

As far as Firehouse's comments are concerned:
1) The administration/trustees are conservative if anything.
2) I don't know either way on this one.
3) On a grand scale, you're right, but this is pretty bad stuff as far as DePauw is concerned.
4) The Commission has two house ex-presidents, one NPHC greek, and one independent, and one other IFC greek.

33girl is pretty much right in her assessment...the trustees are heavily greek.

That being said, Firehouse's comments aren't all bunk, as the campus climate has become worse as far as risk management concerned and it's not completely asinine to say that one more bad incident could tip the scales concerning the further existence of the greek system at DePauw.

AFAIK, Bob Bottoms is Greek, although I may be wrong.

Rudey's statement that "That campus has had a lot of incidents which can either be called "Boys being boys" or trouble waiting to happen." is right on the money from my opinion, although the house I'm in at DePauw (just look at my signtaure) isn't really the norm for DePauw fraternities.