The University of Michigan is moving forward with plans — developed during the past year — to help restore the traditions and values within the Greek Life community on the Ann Arbor campus.
U-M students Alexander Krupiak and Madeline Walsh, immediate past presidents of the Interfraternity Council and the Panhellenic Association, U-M student Kelly Gee, president of the Multicultural Greek Council, and other student leaders spent last summer researching the best possible practices for improvements within the Greek Life community.
Students partnered with university leaders to meet with alumni advisers, national Greek organizations and students to gather feedback on how to help refocus the university’s large Greek Life community on the core values of Greek organizations: service, scholarship, leadership, brother/sisterhood, character, philanthropy and excellence.
Krupiak and Walsh are chairing a 30-member campus task force to make final recommendations on how Greek Life can be fully restored to achieving its historical potential at U-M. This group will sift through the many ideas, ranging from educational programming and recruitment timing to the roles of chapter and live-in advisers.
“As student leaders, this hasn’t been easy work for them,” says Dean of Students Laura Blake Jones. “When you are tasked with challenging what exists and trying to make comprehensive change from within a community, it is difficult.”
The charge to the task force includes reviewing preliminary ideas, historical information, data, trends and proposals developed over the past 12 months, finalizing those plans and putting them into action.
It was a year ago that members of three fraternities and three sororities were disciplined for vandalism at two ski resorts during a weekend ski trip in Northern Michigan.
“For me, it wasn’t just the ski trip incidents but a laundry list of issues happening within Greek Life that made us pause to look at where we were at, and where we needed to improve,” says Krupiak.
Walsh adds, “I appreciated the time over the summer to step back and think about the big picture. We tend to rely on self-governance to tackle our own issues but it is also important to understand our shortcomings and identify all available resources.”
Krupiak and Walsh identified sustained and expanded educational outreach within the Greek community as a priority.
“New members receive training but it is important that we continue to find ways to keep more senior members involved as well,” says Krupiak.
This past summer, student leaders spoke with incoming students about Greek Life and emphasized the positive aspects of Greek Life beyond the social experience and reinforced value-based organizations.
The university hosted an Alumni “Call to Action” conference with 50 alumni advisers to fraternities and sororities. It also hosted a national organization “Call to Collaboration” meeting with representatives from 31 national Greek organizations.
The university launched pre-recruitment education. This online education outreach focused on generating awareness about Greek Life, sharing expectations of its members and providing resources to address risk management solutions.
U-M also had the first ever all-Greek community meeting — led by the four council presidents — which filled Hill Auditorium.
The task force, convened by Jones, has kicked off its review work and will continue to meet during the winter semester to review the work already completed and make final recommendations. The task force also will receive input and assistance from nine subcommittees.
“We believe that what we are doing here can change the face of Greek Life at U-M and perhaps help lead the change in fraternity and sorority life that is needed across the country,” Jones says.
Final recommendations could cover educational programming, recruitment timing, the roles of chapter and live-in advisers, Greek Life professional staffing and a wide range of other aspects of Greek Life on the U-M campus.
The task force is expected to deliver its recommendations to the dean of students and Vice President for Student Life E. Royster Harper in April.
COnnor Glerence
Kahrupiak sucks
Glerence Parents
We have a real nice marriage
Concerned Alumni
Greek life at Michigan is a hypocritical institution – they put up a facade with new programs and initiatives like this to clean up their image while at the same time Krupiak’s fraternity hazes and the IFC executive board looks the other way because all of their chapters also haze and break their own social rules. Self-governance is a joke. As long as they can keep their image improving with initiatives like this, the university – the Office of Greek Life and the Dean of Students – looks the other way. The lack of oversight is breeding not up and coming student leaders, but rather up and coming corrupt “officials” with more power than their maturity allows them to handle. What message is the university’s looking the other way sending to these “leaders?” The abuses of power, hazing, and cover ups have been reported to Office of Greek Life employees Devin Berghorst and Mary Beth Seiler, as well as, Dean of Students Laura Blake Jones. No investigation ever took place. No action was ever taken. Greek life at Michigan will never be respectable until it realizes and recognizes its own failures and problems and starts from square one. Schlissel should do as he did at Brown and end it before it becomes an even bigger liability pushing away alumni, donors, and potential students.
Kim Broekhuizen
Reports of alleged hazing are taken very seriously by the University. Hazing prevention education is enacted on an annual basis with a number of groups including Greek Life to prevent its occurrence.
When a report of alleged hazing is received within Greek Life it is investigated by the Hazing Task force, UMPD and AAPD as appropriate.
Policies on hazing can be found at: https://deanofstudents.umich.edu/nohazing
Get Over Yourselves, Boys
Taking the time to criticize this movement, the people behind it, or Greek Life as a whole is petty and pathetic.