Alfred University to Dissolve Greek System

[DeltAlum]

Tom -- brother and sister Greeks,

I don't have any additional information on this situation, and really don't have a way to get any more.

I feel terribly conflicted over this issue.

I don't like to take sides on anything unless I feel I really understand the facts -- and by that I mean stripping all of the emotional arguments and the public relations aspects away and really seeing the cold, hard truth.

I don't have any good way of doing that in this case. I can read the PR and newspaper reports (including those from a couple of papers I have great respect for), and I can read the pleas from Greek members who feel they have been wronged.

I don't know what is fact and what is legend.

I'm not an expert on very much, but I did spend many years around controversy. In those years, I have also learned to choose very carefully which battles are worth fighting.

Frankly, because of the above, I don't know whether this one is or not.

You surely know that I hate when any chapter is closed because it hurts the Greek System as a whole. You should also know, however, that I think some chapters deserve to be closed. In the later case, I hold the members responsible for messing up something I've worked hard to perpetuate.

I am not addressing any single chapter here, but, from the sounds of it, this is a Greek community that is/was fraught with problems. It also sounds like it was given the opportunity to clean up its act, and, for whatever reason, didn't. There are very few schools I'm aware of where the Greek GPA is lower than the all campus (male and female) GPA. Even the Alfred Greeks who have posted above don't dispute that this is the case. It appears that hazing and alcohol were a problem. The Greek participation on campus seems painfully small.

On the other hand, although much of the administrative committee from the unviersity who made this decision are Greek alumni, I question the absolute "death sentence" for the entire community. In my mind, the liability and other issues would have to be pretty damned bad to justify that. There must be some chapters on campus that deserve to survive. At least you would think so.

With the hard information available to me, I have no way of knowing if they were or not. It's two groups pointing fingers at each other. It's one groups word against the other. If I were a judge, I couldn't find in favor of either from what has been presented here.

There is no question in my mind that the university took the easy (cowards?) way out by waiting until the eleventh hour to make its announcement. I'm sure that they are counting on the controversy lessening over the summer in the minds of both the students and alumni. That's certainly not uncommon, but it doesn't sit well with me. If a hard decision needs to be made, it should be made like men and women, announced and then defended in a timely manner -- not announced quietly and then swept under the "vacation" carpet.

So, where does that leave me (notice I say "me" not "us," I never speak for anyone else unless given that responsibility)? It leaves me in a big time quandry.

I said above that I hate to see any chapter closed. However, if a chapter is damaging the system as a whole and/or not carrying its weight -- if it's not living up to the ideals of the system and its founders, then it should be closed. If a member doesn't live up to his/her fraternal oath and Ritual, then he or she doesn't deserve to remain. Sometimes it is necessary to remove a diseased part of the body in order for the rest of the body to survive. In those cases, I will personally (although sadly and reluctantly) take the charter off the wall. And you won't be missed.

So, (taking a deep breath) I simply don't know how to react to this. I don't relate to finger pointing well, and I don't have a way to find the real facts. One thing that will NEVER sway me is to hide behind "the unfair media." That's a cop out. If something is being reported that you claim is unfair -- prove it -- don't just whine about it. That is just too easy a target.

I will not go out on a limb for what may, in fact, be a Greek community that is to weak or to corrupted to survive. I also will not go out on that limb for an administration which may have an unnecessarily harsh feeling toward the Greek world, or some other agenda. That is an absolute abuse of their power.

What worries me most the the precedent. I have ranted and raged about Greeks needing to wake up to the reality of today's academic society. I have said that, as campus leaders, we are supposed to hold ourselves to a higher standard. I have argued that hazing has absolutely no part in Greek life in this day and age. I have written about understanding liability and all of the differences that are faced by today's Greek brother and sister. Some people listen, many other don't.

I simply know this: Unless we can do what is necessary to clean up our reputation, this will not be the last situation like this we will face. In the long run, I believe that the very survival of the entire Greek System as we know it is at stake here.

I hope I'm wrong and being too much of a fatalist, but I keep seeing deaths and alcohol related problems, and hazing and other things that bode badly for us. And, although age doesn't necessarily bring wisdom, experience does, and I look at this now from the standpoint of an alumni advisor and officer with nearly thirty-five years of hindsight. It's a scary thing.

Does the system deserve to die? NO!! There are good people doing good things -- important things. There are also idiots who continue to break the law (hazing and underage drinkinig being the most common) and do nothing but party -- ignoring the realities of today's world.

As I said in the first sentence, I'm terribly conflicted. I wish I had Solomon-like powers. I don't. It is agonizing to write this. My first impulse is to jump on the bandwagon on the side of the fraternities and soroities involved -- but something doesn't feel right, and, under these circumstances, they have to prove their case to me with hard facts -- not finger pointing.

So, let the flames begin -- but until someone can offer me some facts, I won't have more to say about this.

Sorry for the rambling.