Last Friday members of the Greek community meet with the Student Government Association to discuss the future of the Greek community and where they will stand within the area governments.
The meeting specifically focused on Title Five and brought forth a series of proposals of possible ideas, which would include the Greek community within the area governments.
Title Five a new addition to the SGA constitution as of this year defines the area government and it’s house councils. However, this failed to define and include the placement of the Greek community within an area government. Secretary of Administrative Affairs, Sheila Tunney brought forth two proposals to be taken under consideration at the meeting.
“We can look into instituting a Greek council and have them fall under the commuter area government or have them under the off campus university approved housing area government,” Tunney said. “We could also have a Greek council and a representative from each house which would intern represent all the Greek area government and serve to consecutively bring everyone together.”
The idea of forming a Greek Area Government was also brought up as a possible proposal as well as the option for Greek houses on campus to create there own proposals to be taken under consideration.
“I think one step that we could look into would be putting together a packet on how each proposal would work,” SGA President Jeff Howe said. “We would then distribute these packets to each house and they could review the pros and cons of each and give feed back on what they think would be the best course of action.”
However, Director of Greek Affairs, Michael Wiseman offered a different proposal to the SGA. He stated that he would like to set up a coordinating council including the four Greek governing councils so that each would receive representation.
“If we had a representative from each area of the Greek community we could elect a chair for each term that way the position would rotate between each group,” Wiseman said. “This would allow everyone the ability to be involved and get equal representation as well as the chance to take the lead and be the primary contact for the SGA.”
One concern expressed by Greek Affairs was the not only getting representation for recognized Greek houses on campus, but specifically those who are less publicized as well.
The idea of Greek students living on campus being under one area government and then being apart of another was also under discussion. Questions over who Greek students living on campus would be directed under were looked at by the SGA. The issue of whether or not Greeks living on campus would be represented twice was a concern brought up by both sides. Howe responded by stating “We don’t have a proportional government.”
Wiseman expressed his thoughts on the issues concerning Title Five in relationship to the Greek community and what there intentions are as a whole.
“Our intent is not to serve the Greek communities needs, but the SGA and whatever legalities needed so that we can work together side by side,” Wiseman said.
Guerra added on to Wiseman’s comment by stating that the Greeks will always have issues and they will deal with them as they had before, but it’s about being able to satisfy the needs of the SGA in this situation.
Chris Carey of Pi Lambda Phi expressed his chapters concerns over receiving equal representation as a new chapter. He expressed concerns over the fact that some Greek chapters do not have houses, and the need to reach every area of the Greek community.
“As a new chapter we want to know that were represented, where we stand and what we will be able to get out of it,” Carey said.
Pan Hellenic President Amy Guerra added on to this by explaining that a lot of students are not educated on the entire process.
“We have had many discussions, and it’s not that we don’t want a proposal to be made, but people are not educated enough leaving us taking guesses on what our chapter wants,” Guerra said.
It was further discussed on making a proposal that would suit the growth of the Greek community. Wiseman stated that he would like to see a plan created that would incorporate and include a growing Greek community.
“The Greek community wants support, and there has been a lot of talk about expanding,” Wiseman said. “You don’t want to have to revisit this topic again in the future.”
Howe responded by stating that he would like to see a system that would reflect a growing population as well. He then moved on to state what the next course of action would be for Title Five.
“We need to talk about the general structure of what is going to happen, and then have everything ready to go when we get back next semester,” Howe said.
