Alfred University to Dissolve Greek System

[dzandiloo]

Here goes another one. (this is an Alfred U Press Release). I wonder if any of the groups will try to make a go of it off campus a la SCU?
-----------------------------

Alfred University trustees vote to eliminate fraternities and sororities
5/20/02
The Alfred University Board of Trustees has voted to eliminate fraternities and sororities, ending their nearly-100-year presence on this campus.

The vote came after a special Trustee Task Force on Greek Life delivered a report sharply critical of the University’s Greek system, and recommended its elimination.

The trustees directed President Charles M. Edmondson and his staff to draft a plan to implement their decision and authorized the Executive Committee of the Board to review and approve the administration’s plan on behalf of the full board.

While the board’s action was taken at its meeting late on Friday, the announcement was delayed until today to permit Gerald Brody, vice president of Student Affairs, to notify presidents of fraternities and sororities of the board’s decision. “We wanted to extend that courtesy to our students,” said President Edmondson.

“The Board of Trustees is convinced that the Greek system is beyond repair,” said Robert McComsey, chairman of the Board. “The vote was virtually unanimous – 25 trustees voted in favor and one abstained.
We must ensure that Alfred University provides an environment conducive to learning and one that assures the safety and well-being of all students. From this report, it became clear to all of us that our Greek system simply does not contribute to the type of learning environment we want at Alfred University.”

The report was the culmination of more than three months’ work by the Task Force, headed by Board Chairman Emeritus Dr. Gene M. Bernstein. The 1969 alumnus was president of his fraternity while at AU. The majority of the eight-member task force were Greek affiliates, as are 82 percent of the Board of Trustees who are AU alumni.

The Board appointed the special task force in February after the death of Benjamin Klein, 21, a junior business major from Putney, VT. Klein had allegedly been beaten by two of his fraternity brothers before his death, although a medical examiner’s report said the injuries Klein sustained did not cause his death.

“The Task Force concluded that while many students who belong to Greek organizations are outstanding young people, some of these organizations and the Greek system they comprise have become dysfunctional,” said Bernstein. “I want to emphasize that during the course of our investigation, the Task Force members met many members of fraternities and sororities who are ideal students. We also recognized the tremendous achievements and contributions of our more than 6,000 Greek alumni.”

Bernstein said the Task Force evaluated three different options: 1) to continue the Greek system as it is; 2) to drastically reform the system; or 3) to eliminate fraternities and sororities.

“As we began reviewing reports and documents… it became abundantly clear that the first alternative was neither viable nor responsible,” Bernstein said. “We examined what has happened at 20 other Northeastern colleges and universities, including some of the most prestigious institutions in the country, such as Amherst, Williams, Colby, Middlebury, Dartmouth and Bucknell; all have either undertaken major reforms of their Greek systems or eliminated them entirely. Those who did away with fraternities and sororities found it had a positive impact on academic quality and ability to recruit students and faculty.”

At Alfred University, the Task Force found membership has declined from 45 percent of the student body 40 years ago to 10 percent today. Among entering freshmen last year, only 4 percent expressed an interest in joining a fraternity or sorority, raising questions of their long-term viability, a concern heightened by the fact that fewer than half the members currently live in the chapter houses.

Additionally, “Greek membership does not reflect the changing campus population in terms of women, minorities or international students, all of which have an important future at Alfred University,” Bernstein said.

The Task Force also learned that students in Greek houses tend to drink more and more often than their peers at Alfred University, and that while there are some excellent students who are members of fraternities and sororities, the overall grade-point averages of students with Greek affiliations tend to be lower than the campus average, and lower than the students’ SAT scores and high school ranking would have predicted. There are also growing numbers of violations of University policy. This spring, six of the 12 Greek organizations (eight fraternities and four sororities) were under sanction for violations.

The Task Force also rejected the second alternative – drastic reform of the system. “The University tightened its guidelines for fraternities and sororities, beginning in 1992. It also hired additional staff to work with the Greek organizations, offering a number of educational programs from leadership development to how to host a party responsibly,” said Bernstein. “The University has repeatedly encouraged fraternities and sororities to set higher academic standards for themselves and to police their own behavior, but overall, they still do not meet our expectations.”

Furthermore, the task force noted, the University has offered financial assistance to the Greek houses, including establishing a revolving loan fund to help them with repairs to their houses.

“Ten years of determined efforts to reform the system have failed to produce satisfactory results, as evidenced by the continued decline in membership,” said Bernstein. “In the end, the Task Force concluded the most responsible alternative is to eliminate these organizations.”

“This action requires us to decide very soon what to do with approximately 100 students who planned to live in those houses next fall,” said Edmondson. “We must determine whether they may stay there and, if so, what special conditions should be required. Parents must also decide, in light of the Task Force's findings, where they want their children to live.”

He expects to resolve this question within a few weeks and to notify parents and students of their housing options as soon as possible, so that they can make alternative living arrangements if necessary. “Whatever the decision we reach in this matter, every student will have a place to live this fall,” he said.

Along with its recommendation that the Greek system be eliminated, the Trustee Task Force urged that the University act boldly to enhance the quality of life on campus. Edmondson said that in all likelihood major changes - and major investments in programs and facilities for students - lie ahead.

“This decision by the Board of Trustees will allow the University to reallocate resources now directed at the 10 percent of students who have Greek affiliations to improving the quality of life for all students,” said Brody, who will be among those drafting the implementation plan.

“We will be able to explore ways of enhancing residential life options for all students, perhaps by integrating housing and academics with more special interest housing units.” The University already has a Language House, an Honors Program House, Hillel House, and the Environmental Studies House, where students with a common interest live together in a semi-independent unit.

“As we implement the board’s decision, we must remember our ultimate goal: to improve the living and learning environment for all students on this campus,” said Edmondson.

[Kevin]

It is sad to see that this board has made this wrong decision.

It would be truly upsetting if I were a member of a chapter at Alfred and they shut me down because of someone elses' stupidity.

The trustees here have decided to pull the plug on the organizations that typically spawn the folks that come back as alums and pay these idiot's salaries!

I wonder how many millions of dollars worth of future donations this has cost them?

[DeltAlum]

Snake,

There's something deeper and more troubling than that.

If you read the entire article, you know that, of the people who made the decision, the majority are Greek.

Surely they understand the dynamics.

Were the chapters there that out of control?

Is political pressure on the administration that strong?

There's got to be more here than meets the eye.

[FuzzieAlum]

Yeah, it sounds like the system needs fixing ... only 4 percent interest? Grades below the all-college average? Still, I don't think that yanking the system is necessarily the answer. If they want higher grades, make that a criteria for recognition. If they want less alcohol, make being dry a criteria for recognition. Etc.

[Peaches-n-Cream]

Unfortunately this isn't the first greek hazing related death at Alfred. There is a deeper problem here as DeltAlum wrote. The Board of Trustees is protecting the university from any possible future liability in a lawsuit. It's called risk management. I don't blame them one bit. A verdict or even a settlement could cost millions of dollars. It isn't worth it to Alfred no matter "how many millions of dollars worth of future donations this has cost them" from greek alumni as ktsnake wrote. It seems to have become a matter of life and death.

[GreekSCU]

Some advice to the AU Greeks:

My school, Santa Clara University, decided to disband the Greek system just over 1 year ago. Just because the school no longer supports the Greek-letter-organizations, does not necessarily mean they must cease to exist. In the one year since we were kicked off campus, the three surviving fraternities and two sororities have grown immensely in size, quality, and overall participation in campus activities.

Several of the organizations capitalized on the new lack of school restraint and guidance, and have doulbed in size. My chapter (Zeta-Eta) of Sigma Pi Fraternity went from 27 members at the beginning of last school year, to nearly 80 members now. The sororities have both grown from 100 members to nearly 170 members now. The Greeks at SCU have come together as a new system off campus, and are now flourishing. In fact, we are doing so well off campus, that a new sorority is colonizing next year for the first time in 10 years.

To the AU students:
With hard work and dedication to your causes and your organizations too can survive and flourish in the new off-campus environment. Don't give up hope! It can, and has been done before!


Mike
Sigma Pi Fraternity
Rush Chairman

[AngelPhiSig]

What chapters were at AU?

(anyone know?)

[33girl]

This is the school Eileen Stevens' (anti-hazing advocate) son went to - the local he pledged was called Klan Alpine and they are not on that list, but I saw them on the web page somewhere else. That tells me that it took a hella long time after that incident for them to get kicked off campus. Problem #1.

the thing that disturbs me is the org parity - it is like that at Dartmouth - twice as many men's GLOs as women's. Then the college prevents any new sororities from forming, and then says that the system is discriminatory to women. HELLO!! I'm not saying it is that way here but generally in the Northeast, you don't have that big of a discrepancy unless the school noodled with it.

[shadokat]

Originally posted by FuzzieAlum
Yeah, it sounds like the system needs fixing ... only 4 percent interest? Grades below the all-college average? Still, I don't think that yanking the system is necessarily the answer. If they want higher grades, make that a criteria for recognition. If they want less alcohol, make being dry a criteria for recognition. Etc.

Actually Fuzzie, I was reading an article that I guess is from Tri Delta's magazine, and it was all about recruitment now as compared to in the past. There was a study done by The American Freshman , conducted at UCLA, and less than 1% of incoming freshmen ever plan to live in sorority/fraternity housing, and only 11% even are considering joining a fraternity or sorority. So the numbers are pretty low!

BUT, I think that a lot more people will be greek if you can show them the benefits of the system. We just turned a chapter around on a campus where they haze like hell. Our chapter doesn't haze, but were lumped in with other groups who do. We sold our non-hazing point. The chapter went from 16 women to 40 in 3 weeks.

[Eirene_DGP]

Originally posted by Cream
Unfortunately this isn't the first greek hazing related death at Alfred. There is a deeper problem here as DeltAlum wrote. The Board of Trustees is protecting the university from any possible future liability in a lawsuit. It's called risk management. I don't blame them one bit. A verdict or even a settlement could cost millions of dollars. It isn't worth it to Alfred no matter "how many millions of dollars worth of future donations this has cost them" from greek alumni as ktsnake wrote. It seems to have become a matter of life and death.

I'll have to agree with Cream. If the lawsuits cost more than what the greek alumni donate, the school has to look out for their best interest. It does seem a bit odd that they didn't disband the problem fraternities first and then look at other drastic measures.

[akomicron]

I figured it would be a good idea to give all of you posting messages about what happened in Alfred a little background on the situation.

I am a sister at Alpha Kappa Omicron a local sorrority at Alfred. The University press release fails to mention that most but not all Greeks had bad grades etc. Our sorroirty for the past 2 years has had the highest Greek GPA which was also higher than the University Women's GPA.

The reason only 10 Greek organizations were listed is because 2 (Sigma and Klan) had their charters suspended earlier this year.

The Greek Task Force was brought about by the death of a ZBT brother that was unrelated to "Greek" activities. The decision made by the Task Force was made Friday according to the press release...Presidents of our houses were not notified until Monday early afternoon.

I truly believe that the decision made by the board was made w/o full concideration of their options. Attempts could have been made to work with those of us who are trying. Yes our system needed changes but no it did not need to be eliminated.

[JenniferAKO710]

I also am a member of the Alfred sorority Alpha Kappa Omicron. I want to state for people on the outside looking at this situation that, yes, it looks bad. The Alfred Greek system has never been perfect. Do I agree with what happened in 1978? Absolutely not! It should have been dealt with then, not almost 25 years down the road. Do I agree with what happened this past year, with the death of an Alfred ZBT brother? Again, absolutely not! Do I understand the university's position about liability? Yes. As an alumnus I can say that I loved Alfred when I went there. I don't ever want my school to have a bad reputation. However, what made part of my days there so special was my participation in Greek life. I am thankful that the university recognized that the Greek community does make good contributions to the community. But I don't think that eliminating the system was the answer.
Our greek alumni donate a lot of money to the university and make up a large percentage of the people that come back for alumni events at the college. We provide large amounts of community service to give back to our community. Yes, our numbers are small compared to other campuses. But I feel that we have been battling a system that has made narrower and narrower rules, without really working with us. The assurances that if we keep our noses clean and follow the rules, we will be fine, were obviously not backed up by much. We have been trying to work with the university. However, I think that everyone is more apt to point the finger at the most recent incident and to say that our organizations have gone down hill.
What is to happen to our house, that we have OWNED since 1949. Many of the structures in town are old and carry a lot of history. We do not want to lose either. At this point the university has made their decision. I am sure that there will be a lot of lost tempers and many rash decisions in the days to follow. I am sad, but I also have hope that we can continue to exist and maybe improve upon the good that already is within our system.
We have fears that the university and the town will want to abolish the system completely. In the university's letter they state that they will have to make a decision whether students with be allowed to live in their houses. How can they do this when most of us own the stuctures? I am asking members of other greek organizations, whose campuses have gone through similar situations for some advice on where we go from here? Will the fraternities and sororities still be allowed to exist by their nationals? Will locals even have a chance if they aren't nationally affiliated?
I would appreciate any help on this matter. And please don't be so quick to judge the whole by the actions of a few. Thanks,
Jennifer

[madmax]

Originally posted by JenniferAKO710


What is to happen to our house, that we have OWNED since 1949. Many of the structures in town are old and carry a lot of history. We do not want to lose either. At this point the university has made their decision. I am sure that there will be a lot of lost tempers and many rash decisions in the days to follow. I am sad, but I also have hope that we can continue to exist and maybe improve upon the good that already is within our system.
We have fears that the university and the town will want to abolish the system completely. In the university's letter they state that they will have to make a decision whether students with be allowed to live in their houses. How can they do this when most of us own the stuctures? I am asking members of other greek organizations, whose campuses have gone through similar situations for some advice on where we go from here? Will the fraternities and sororities still be allowed to exist by their nationals? Will locals even have a chance if they aren't nationally affiliated?
I would appreciate any help on this matter. And please don't be so quick to judge the whole by the actions of a few. Thanks,
Jennifer

If Alfred is a public school then you can live anywhere you want, take pledges, advertise, raise money, have social functions and pretty much do anything you want as long as you are not breaking any laws.

Check out the thread by GreeksSCU. His fraternity doubled in size since the his school banned glos. You can do the same.

[33girl]

Jennifer - I completely agree, the things that happened 25 years ago should have been dealt with then, the fact that a group that did that was allowed to linger makes everyone look bad.

I can't say what will happen with the fraternities - some will stay on a non-admin supported campus and some will not. As far as the sororities however, DZ will probably pull out, as they did at SCU, just because that is in their constitution. If the girls have a strong sisterhood they can probably make it together as a local. Since the other 2 sororities are already local I don't see a problem with it.

madmax is right, if you are public you can live wherever you want. If your school accepts ANY $$$ in federal funding they are stepping on your rights.

http://dke.org/roar.html has quite a bit of info on the situations at the other colleges up there - check it out. Good luck to you all and hang in there.

If the DZs did have to pull out, what happens to the actives then? do they automatically become alumni? and then would they be allowed to function as a local, or would that violate dual membership?