Committee on Greek life asks for feedback
To the Vanderbilt Community,
As you may be aware, for a little more than a year, the Provost's Ad
Hoc Committee on Greek Life has been gathering information about issues
related to the Greek system on campus. We would like to take this opportunity
to inform you about our progress in working towards a final report.
The charge: We were charged by the Provost to "reach informed conclusions
on the effects [the Greek system] has, and the effects it does not have,
in the following areas: its support of the University's academic mission,
its furtherance of University goals of attracting and retaining a diverse
student body, its influence on the social life of non-Greeks, its impact
upon freshman-year experience, its fostering of a sense of community in
the student body and its overall effect on the University's admissions retention
efforts." Furthermore we were charged to "make any recommendations
[the committee] believes will help the Greek system to better support the
University's mission in those categories that have been previously defined,
and to make Vanderbilt a better place for all undergraduates."
What we have done: Over the past year, in pursuit of the first charge
we have met, talked, or communicated with a broad range of individuals and
groups. We have met with several deans, Greek advisors, faculty members,
student services staff, alumni, admissions personnel, space planners, students
participating in rush, multiple sorority and fraternity groups in their
houses, many independent students, a group of fraternity leaders, the sorority
presidents, IFC and Panhel leaders, Black Greek student representatives,
and many individual students.
In addition, members of our committee have participated in rush rounds,
attended sorority and fraternity meetings, participated in the Asian American
Studies panel session, observed Pledge Camp, lived in a fraternity house
for a week, stayed overnight in a sorority house, created a homepage to
gather individual views, read letters from parents, read rush evaluations,
read exit interview reports, attended the Greek presentation of their volunteer
and philanthropy activities to the Board of Trust, conducted roughly 40
sophomore interviews, attended the Alcohol Policy Forum, evaluated the Greek
system at several other universities, and collected and analyzed academic
performance data for Greeks and non Greeks, men and women, by class, for
the past ten years.
We have concluded that there exist many myths and misconceptions surrounding
Greek life at Vanderbilt. Some Greeks feel that the faculty and administration
are simply "out to get them" on many occasions, on many issues.
Conversely, some faculty and administrators feel that the Greek system stands
in direct conflict with the primary missions of the University. Both myths
are exaggerated.
The Next Step: We believe that we can now begin to make some informed
and balanced observations and recommendations. We would like additional
input from the community at large, both Greek and non-Greek. We encourage
input on any aspect of Greek life, but particularly seek opinions on a couple
of issues.
Greeks provide a social atmosphere and a support system that are beneficial
to many college students. For a number of reasons, the role of the student-directed
campus-wide social events has fallen almost exclusively to Greek organizations.
· If the opportunity and physical plant resources were available,
do you think that other student organizations could provide equivalent social
and entertainment alternatives?
The sense of "community" within the Greek system is a strong
positive. The Greek system at Vanderbilt has a strong commitment to service
and is to be congratulated and actively encouraged in such initiatives.
The Greek system also has weaknesses, particularly during the fall semester
"rush period" for freshmen women and during the spring semester
"pledge period" for freshmen men. Among its considerations the
committee has heard arguments to move the rush period to the beginning of
the sophomore year.
· What is your opinion about sophomore rush? How would this change
affect the academic performance of pledges, the freshman-year experience,
the social interactions between students and the impact on the Greek system?
While we are pursuing these questions directly, they are by no means
the only areas for you to have input to the committee. Please feel free
to send email to bob@vuse.vanderbilt.edu or contact the committee through
the web page: http://www.vuse.vanderbilt.edu/~dowdy/greek_life.html
Committee Chair:
Larry Dowdy
Chair of Computer Science
Box 1679-B
An abridged version of this letter appeared in the Dec. 8 newsprint
version of the Vanderbilt Register.
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