CU puts Greeks on notice

[LXAAlum]

From today's Rocky Mountain News:

CU puts Greeks on notice
Frats, sororities get six weeks to agree to new restrictions

By Hector Gutierrez And Berny Morson, Rocky Mountain News
March 18, 2005

The University of Colorado on Thursday gave fraternities and sororities until the end of the semester to sign off on an agreement crafted to help rein in alcohol abuse.

One of the key components of the agreement would require fraternities and sororities to defer rush activities for freshmen from the traditional autumn period to the spring semester of the 2005-06 academic year.

The 14 fraternities and 10 sororities at the Boulder campus have until April 29, the last day of spring semester classes, to sign off on the agreement.

If they don't, the Greeks will lose certain privileges on campus such as inclusion on the CU Web site, in publications and on student lists. Fraternities and sororities that do not sign the agreement also would lose access to the Greek affairs office, the university's Greek adviser, campus meeting spaces, and sports fields and facilities.

"The purpose of this agreement is to help the Greek organizations return to their core values of scholarship, leadership, service and brotherhood/sisterhood," Ron Stump, vice chancellor for student affairs, said in a statement.

"We believe they have drifted from these important values over the past several years, and the entire Greek system has suffered as a result. Our expectation is 'no more business as usual.' "

A list of fraternities and sororities that have signed the agreement with CU will be available to freshmen students and their parents.

"The groups that have signed have agreed to a certain level of standards, that here's a group that's making positive changes," CU Greek Affairs Director Laura Strohminger said. "Parents would investigate that more and make sure they feel more comfortable, and the students, themselves, have to understand what they're joining.

"It will show that the institution is working with them and has a relationship with them, and the others we do not. And we have no way of knowing what expectations they're living up to," she said.

Administrators at CU and Colorado State University sounded the alarm last fall when both campuses lost a student to binge drinking at a fraternity house.

So far, the national offices of all of the sororities are backing the changes in the agreement, which also includes a requirement for a full-time staff member in each chapter house and a prohibition against hazing and alcohol consumption at events for new members.

The fraternities, however, have balked at a couple of the proposals, including delaying rush week for freshmen until spring, Strohminger said.

"They have said that they don't necessarily agree with some of the recruitment pieces," she said. "The women have said that they're pleased with the draft, and they've been asking their local chapters to support it. There's a need for cultural change and I applaud the women for doing that."

Requests for comment from fraternities were referred to representatives of the North American Interfraternity Conference in Indianapolis, who weren't available Thursday.

Katie Matthews, president of CU's Panhellenic Council, which represents the school's sororities, acknowledged that the sororities also were uneasy about delaying rush week for several months.

"It isn't what we prefer, but we're already working to change over all of our plans for the recruitment," Matthews said.

"We already have live-in advisers and, obviously, people don't drink underage at our parties and hazing is already prohibited, so our only main concern was deferred recruitment," Matthews said.

New rules for Greeks

Under the fraternal organization agreement, fraternities and sororities will be expected to:

• Engage a full-time, live-in staff member in the chapter house.

• Prohibit underage consumption of alcohol at events.

• Schedule rush activities according to a date determined by the university, which will be in the spring semester of the freshman year beginning with the 2005-06 academic year.

• Abide by federal, state and local laws.

• Meet the national organization's academic standards.

The agreement also prohibits any form of hazing and use of alcohol in new-member programming. The deadline for signing the agreement is April 29.