Winston Crisp looks forward Greek reform

Winston Crisp won’t provide many details for his plan to reform the Greek system today.

He doesn’t have them.

Crisp, the vice chancellor for student affairs, said Tuesday that he will present a vague outline of his plan to the University affairs committee of the Board of Trustees.

But it will appear to trustees more as a glimpse into the issues Crisp and his office will face rather than a step-by-step strategy.

One commitment Crisp does feel comfortable making, he said, is that the new policy will not be applied to all four Greek councils in the same manner.

“One of the things we’ve learned is that there are places where it doesn’t make sense to have a one-size-fits-all way of doing things when you have real, concrete differences,” he said.

The board passed a series of recommendations to Crisp in November that, among other things, mandates a spring recruitment period for all fraternities and sororities.

The recommendations suggest the development of academic and behavioral standards that fraternities and sororities must meet in order to continue to offer a fall recruitment period and to maintain University recognition.

Crisp said he will inform the committee of three different components that make up his reform effort.

First, he will lead a team — made up of administrators, students and alumni — to examine the policy that now governs the academics and behavior of Greek organizations.

The team will work to determine how it will reconcile the recommendations of the board and the current policy.

Second, the team will work to restructure the office of fraternity and sorority life, an office that will be essentially without a staff within a month, Crisp said.

Jenny Levering, former assistant dean of students for fraternity and sorority life, left the University for a position at Miami University in November.

Kayte Fry — coordinator of fraternity and sorority life — will leave the University within a month, Crisp said.

“Effectively, we’re going to have the opportunity to build the office from scratch,” he said.

Crisp added that he thinks it’s likely the disciplinary component of the office will be removed altogether and transferred to the office of the dean of students.

The team’s third task will be to examine the separate Greek councils and determine how to apply the new plan to each organization, he said.

This will include how to apply the new recruitment standards, as well as the system for academic performance and behavioral standards.

Alston Gardner, chairman of the University affairs committee, said he won’t be expecting many details from Crisp.

“I don’t expect that he has made a whole lot of progress except deciding how he wants to proceed,” he said.

Gardner said he was willing to give Crisp more breathing room since the office of fraternity and sorority life is understaffed.

“Basically we have no department right now,” he said.

“Who’s going to implement (the plan)?” he added. “Somebody’s got to do all the work. It ain’t going to be Winston.”

Crisp said another factor in the plan’s lack of detail was the inability to bring students into the discussion in December.

“There’s only so much you can do while the students are otherwise occupied with exams and then away,” he said.

Jonathan Sauls, interim associate dean of students, hosted a meeting for Greek leaders Tuesday night in which members discussed the issues surrounding the plan’s formation and implementation.

Sauls acknowledged the difficulty Greek leaders could face in keeping up with any new requirements.

“It can be challenging and daunting to go through all the things you have to do to meet all the standards,” he said.

“There’s a lot of stuff in there — a lot to do.”

Staff Writer Alex Hammer contributed reporting.

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