Board of Trustees study finds no simple fix for Greeks

Twenty-three surveys and 18 interviews have left some Board of Trustees members with one conclusion about the Greek rush schedule’s effect on students: Nothing is certain.

As part of a study that will shape the UNC board’s recommendation on how — or whether — to amend the University’s rush policy, the board’s University affairs committee consulted other universities from late August into September.

The committee has raised the possibility of maintaining the fall rush, deferring rush to spring or changing recruitment to a rolling or performance-based system.

But after hour-long interviews and questionnaires, the committee’s chairman, Alston Gardner, said changing rush might not be the silver bullet for a range of concerns with the Greek system.

“There’s no clear consensus that recruitment in the fall or spring produces different results,” Gardner said. “The general advice from everyone is there are more important ways to affect the culture and success of Greek system than the timing of the recruitment period.”

At 2 p.m. today, Gardner will present the findings of the board’s University affairs committee to students and Greek officials.

Gardner said the board’s recommendation to the University, scheduled to be released in January, could come as soon as November.

In an interview Tuesday, Gardner said the discussion in the Freedom Forum room in Carroll Hall will address the committee’s concerns that rush interferes with students’ assimilation into campus life. It will address the concern that the current rush caters to the negative stereotypes associated with the Greek system. And it will address the problem of forcing students to make a decision in 10 days that will mold their four years at UNC.

After researching comparably sized Greek systems at schools ranging from Cornell University to peer institutions such as the University of California – Los Angeles and the University of Michigan, Gardner said he has concluded that no single adjustment will solve systemic problems.

Of the five universities he interviewed for the study, Gardner said he was most impressed by Indiana University’s model.

He said the university’s vast network of alumni advisors provides a mature insight that trickles down to fraternity and sorority organizations’ judiciary processes, recruiting and mentoring.

“They had over 400 alumni advisors. They have a lot of leadership from their alumni, which is something we have lacked. We have strong leadership on the sorority side and a lack of that on the fraternity side,” Gardner said.

After adding alumni advisors, Gardner said the University’s Greek organizations could see a spike in community service, a reduction in misbehavior and a more open relationship with the student body at large.

“The fraternities and sororities themselves were pushing the envelope to being not only socially oriented but also very involved in campus and the intellectual life of (Indiana University),” he said.

UNC alumnus Jordan Whichard, who served as a special adviser for Greek affairs during the spring semester, said he came to similar conclusions during his research.

In addition to recognizing the potential for alumni advisers to provide oversight into rush, mentoring and fraternities’ judiciary processes, Whichard said he found that deferring rush to spring — like the University of Virginia — would not be the most sensible option for UNC.

“There are other ways to achieve those positive outcomes than simply by deferring rush,” said Whichard, whose consult ended in May.

“If academic achievement in the first semester is inhibited by pledging, there are ways to change the pledge program.”

And Interfraternity Council President Tucker Piner, who will speak at the meeting, said he doesn’t think moving rush is a solution.

“I’ve heard from every fraternity that it would be detrimental,” Piner said. “It’s almost like moving around from a problem rather than addressing it and fixing it.”

Piner, who will speak at the meeting today, said the Greek system must look within itself for improvements and focus on the quality of recruits rather than the recruiting schedule.

“If we keep recruiting people that are taking away from the system, they’re going to recruit people like that,” Piner said. “There are a bunch of good guys. It’s just that there are a few bad eggs that ruin it for everybody.”

Piner said that culture is perpetuated by a negative impression of fraternities.

“We fall on crutch of what’s easiest, which is partying and drinking. That’s not necessarily what we need to put out front,” Piner said. “We need to show that what’s cool is being a leader, being good to women and doing well in the classroom.”

Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.