PDF
After year of strife, leaders pleased with progress but aim for more
Written by: Dan Merica
After years of swelling tension and misunderstandings between Greek Life and the Student Affairs Office, these strains are slowly subsiding after a number of meetings in which Greek issues were aired to the administration.
Though most Greeks believe that these problems are far from resolved, the relations with the administration, according to Rebecca Stewart, President of Delta Phi Epsilon, are remarkably better than in the past.
“I think there are definitely going to be changes that people might fight,” said Stewart. “But I think it is for the better because if we keep pushing the admin, then Greek Life will probably just disappear.”
In response to these meetings, which included Greek representatives from each sorority and fraternity on campus, along with Student Affairs staff, a letter was written outlining some of the steps that need to be taken to continue cordial relations.
A number of grievances were addressed in the meetings, and subsequently answered in an e-mail sent by Maria DiLorenzo, Assistant Director of Student Affairs, and Christina Witkowicki, Director of Greek Life. While the grievances included issues from Greek housing to funding and relationships with the community, main concerns expressed by both Stewart and Martha Perry, Greek Life Project Group Leader, were about university policies towards Greek Life and public relations on campus.
“The policies are the things that people were generally most upset about,” said Perry. “The solution to that was that each president and their national representative is going to sit down with Christina and decide what fits best at Bentley.”
According to the letter sent by Student Affairs, this group discussion is a short-term solution. Addressed in these conversations will be questions regarding co-sponsoring events with Bentley organizations which have alcohol, party registration policy and socializing with fraternity/sorority organizations that are suspended or not recognized.
A good deal of tension also stemmed from the feeling that the administration was overstepping their regulatory bounds by trying to enforce not just Bentley polices, but fraternity or sorority policies as well. Doreen Floyd, Assistant Dean of Student Affairs, addressed this issue saying, “Our goal is not to regulate policy for other organizations, but to work with our students to figure out how to make sense of it all.”
While policies have created friction with the campus and the administration, many members of Greek Life believe that their presence on campus and the view of non-Greek students towards Greek Life was not favorable. “We don’t want to have Greek Life versus the rest of the campus,” said Stewart, who went on to say that while the perception of Greeks may be linked with partying, it is important to remember that they do a great deal of philanthropy as well.
Student Affairs and Witkowicki stated that Greeks on campus believe the publicity they receive is “not positive.”
“They were interested in more of a presence in publications, such as admissions brochures, spoken more positively about in campus tours, and had more positive articles written about them in The Vanguard,” wrote Witkowicki.
A survey will also be sent out to students regarding their view of Greek Life on campus. “The surveys are intended to provide a broader perspective of the strengths and challenges of the community as perceived by others,” wrote Witkowicki. In addition, a specific survey regarding perceptions of Greek Life is going to staff and faculty.
The survey is slated to go out by the end of the semester. Greek Life will also be making a presentation next semester regarding the possibility of Greek-specific housing coming to campus. In addition, the possibility of mini-grants and funding from AIA for campus-wide events was addressed as a possible way to involve the Greek community. “We are looking at increasing some of the development programming offered to fraternity and sorority members to help aid this change,” said Witkowicki.
When asked whether either of them believed that these changes will be followed through, both Stewart and Perry were hopeful that they would carry them through, but they acknowledged that there would always be tension.
Stewart stated that they are working on “a healthy balance between us pushing them, and them [the administration] pushing us. We are trying to eliminate the negative tension between Greek Life and the administration.” However, Perry went on to acknowledge that there will always be tension, saying, “The most important thing is that we work through that tension and work together.”
Witkowicki pointed out that their commitment has always been centered on helping students be successful and take responsibility for their own behavior. When asked about the feasibility about these changes and where they currently stand, Witkowicki wrote, “Almost all of the action items in the memo have already been started.”
“They are really showing that they want to work with us,” concluded Perry. “We haven’t come to final conclusions yet, but that willingness to work with us makes a big difference.”
Comments on this entry are closed.