EEEKK!! I am almost afraid to post here but here it goes....
I am a Greek administrator and l've got a few comments about this thread.
Let me start by saying that yes, horrible advisors DO exist and some hurt more than help their respective systems. However, many times as members of the Greek community, it is hard to see things from the University perspective and many times, the Greek Advisor has to be bearer of bad news from the Administration. The position is basically a liason between Administrators and students. When the Student Affairs department says 'look, if a fraternity is on probation we have to designate it in the rush pamphlet', it is the Greek Advisor who has to carry this out, often at the expense of his/her popularity with the Greek community. If an advisor believes the University is making a poor decision, it can only be fought to a point - I mean, you DO want to have a job the next morning. Greek Advisors have supervisors too, and they can't just go around defying them. Greek organizations are ultimately under the jurisdiction of the University, and I think at times this can be forgotten. It sucks being the one who has to regulate the policy - but you do it because sometimes that's just the rules and you have to.
Another problem with Greek Advisors is many times they are Non-Greeks who are put in this role either because of lack of funding or lack of on-campus administrators. This is unfortunate because I believe you need to have been Greek to understand Greeks and their needs as organizations. I love what I do, and even though your actions may be misunderstood, if a member of the community takes the time to try and understand the action, the entire relationship is much better.
Believe me, many times, you DON'T want the Big-Wigs at University's having their way with the Greeks - some would deal with problems by banishing Greeks altogether (and I know we have all seen this happen to some campuses).
Again, I am not denying that there are people out there who suck at their job - but try and understand that not all advisors are the devil's spawn
I was chapter President and until I began working for the Greek advisor my senior year, I had a hard time understanding what the hell Student Affairs was doing.
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