Last November, the Board of Trustees officially mandated that all Greek organizations would be required to have spring rush. Recently, the rest of the Greek reforms have begun to take shape.
For the most part, the new regulations seem to be exactly what the doctor ordered for a Greek system that has been riddled with controversy over the past few years.
Rather than offering a knee-jerk reaction intent on solving the problems of the past, these reforms offer students the tools they need to make these important social decisions on their own. As a University that prides itself on teaching students to think and act for themselves, these reforms capture an appropriate middle ground.
Alongside mandating spring rush for fraternities and sororities, (though fall rush remains) the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life has raised the minimum GPA requirement for chapters that want to recruit in the fall to the campus average by 2012. It also instituted a non-freshman recruitment quota for sororities and placed a major emphasis on new educational programs for active members of fraternities and sororities.
The goals for reform were three-fold: to make Greek organizations more academically centered, to alter Greek culture by educating members about drug and alcohol dangers typically associated with college life and to alleviate some of the pressures felt by incoming freshmen to join four-year organizations within their first week here at Carolina.
The measures taken by the Board of Trustees and the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life alleviate these core issues while still allowing Greek organizations to retain their individual livelihoods.
Raising the GPA standard further incentivizes proper academic performance and ensures that Greek organizations will strive to hold their members accountable for their academic standing.
Of course, alcohol education programs won’t solve the binge drinking epidemic throughout the Greek system, but these programs do work to educate members about certain dangers while still allowing them to make their own decisions.
Choosing which fraternity or sorority — if any — to join can be one of the most important decisions students will make in their college careers. Indeed, many students arrive at UNC ill-equipped to make a decision with such lasting implications.
