Submitted by a staff member at a men's fraternity. Edited slightly with permission.
A young man
enters his freshman year of college ready and excited for the adventure ahead
of him. He has anxiously waited for this
day, hearing fond memories from his father about his days as a fraternity man;
days that forever changed his life. The
young man’s father has introduced him to his brothers, taken him to chapter
alumni events and even bought him a t-shirt with his organizational
letters. He is a legacy.
The young
man is accepted to a different state institution than his father, and his
father’s organization is not represented on campus. He signs up for fall recruitment with an
open-mind and visits all of the chapters on campus. Frustrated with the chapter members’ interest
in alcohol and the lack of brotherhood, he drops out. The semester continues and the young man
makes several good friends through his residence hall, getting involved with
student government and participating in intramurals.
During
winter break, a friend attending a different university shares he is pledging a
fraternity and will be a founding father.
Curious about his experience, the young man e-mails his friend and
learns more about the process. He is first
intrigued, and then enthusiastic. Could
he start his own fraternity? What a
great opportunity and a great tribute to his father.
As soon as
he returns for the spring semester he quickly recruits 15 men from his
residence hall, student government and his intramural team. His friend told him that he would need at
least 20 guys to be taken seriously by the IFC.
By February,
he has set up a meeting with the campus fraternity and sorority advisor. He has downloaded the IFC constitution, as
well as information from his father’s fraternity website about expansion. He and the two other “soon-to-be-founding-fathers
“ walk into the advisor’s office organized and prepared.
Through
their conversation they learn that another fraternity just colonized on campus. The advisor informs the men that there is an
order of when fraternities are able to colonize on campus. If they want to join a fraternity, they can
join the new colony or one of the existing chapters. The students leave the office deflated,
discouraged and frustrated.
The young
man calls his father and lets him know that he isn’t allowed to start the new
fraternity, despite their best efforts. Even
worse, he won’t be able to carry on the fraternal legacy.
Flash back
more than a hundred years. A young man
decides to go to college in a rural farm community. He is the first in his family to attend
college and very intimidated by the size of the buildings, the demanding
professors and the academic expectations.
However, he finds solace in the conversations and debate that occurs
between him and his friends each evening.
This man, like
so many men and women, were told by their higher education institution that
literary societies were not permitted.
The institutions had regulations and policies they must abide by. Sound familiar? However, they persevered and established a
tradition of fraternal excellence that has spanned more than 150 years.
So why is it
today we are still battling limitations on our freedom to associate with host
institutions?
Policies and
regulations are much tighter than they were 15 years ago when it comes to
expansion, and include:
- Scheduling
fraternity expansion 5 to 10 years out.
- Requiring
scholarships and financial contributions to local governing councils.
- Imposing
regulations on colonies that aren’t required of other fraternities and
sororities.
- Headquarters
courting campus professionals to ensure their selection during expansion.
All under
the auspices of fairness, balance, and control.
And because of that, have we let the needs and desires of
existing groups (including their fear of competition) trump the needs and desires of unaffiliated students?
Have we accepted that notion that all fraternities are
the same? That it doesn’t matter which
ones exist on a given campus – only how many?
That one fraternity can’t offer anything different than another?
Is it
acceptable that fraternal organizations are expected to invest $3000 - $6000
per campus to “present” to a group of undergraduate leaders and campus
professionals on why they should be “allowed” a place on that campus? You better send the executive director as well!
If the intention
in doing all of this is to “change the culture or our communities”, is it working?
Why do we
have Interfraternity Councils that have become the roadblocks to fraternity
expansion, taking over for the authoritarian administrators of yesterday? What might our founder’s say?
Times have
changed, but the limits on our ability to associate haven’t. The troubling thing is that the regulators have become IFCs and professionals who believe in the fraternity
movement. Just at their own pace it
seems.
In the past,
staring in the face of opposition meant looking in the eyes of headmasters and
professors who resisted anything they couldn’t control. Now, in many ways, the face of opposition we
are staring at is our own.
[This staff member wished to remain anonymous, ironically enough, so that the fraternity's expansion efforts wouldn't be harmed]