A day after the results of Syracuse University’s months-long Greek life review were released, students who read the report said it was a step in the right direction, but a small one. 

The results of the review, emailed to students on Monday evening, identified five strengths and six “challenge” areas in SU’s Greek life community. Dozens of students interviewed by The Daily Orange on Tuesday said they hadn’t read the review. Members of SU’s Student Association said the report addressed many concerns students have about Greek life, but it didn’t release much new information.  

Chancellor Kent Syverud announced the “top-to-bottom” review in April 2018 after SU expelled the professional engineering fraternity Theta Tau for participating in videos that Syverud called “extremely racist, anti-Semitic, homophobic, sexist, and hostile to people with disabilities.” In a campus address on Monday afternoon, Syverud said the review “provides a solid foundation from which we can move forward in a positive direction.”

The six “challenge” areas the report identified included the structure and operations of the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs, unclear policies, diversity and inclusion, law enforcement jurisdiction, risk management and unrecognized groups operating on campus.

Torre Payton-Jackson, co-chair of SA’s Public Relations Committee, said students were already aware of the information in the report.

“It validates what we already knew,” she said. “But at the same time we shouldn’t need that extra validation. It’s a clear culture on campus.”

Payton-Jackson works on an SA committee with the Department of Public Safety. She said the law enforcement challenge in the report highlighted what she had dealt with on the committee.

The report stated that members of culturally-based chapters said there was a difference in how their parties are treated in comparison to parties thrown by students in the Interfraternity Council and the Panhellenic Council. Members of culturally-based chapters often live off campus and are under the jurisdiction of the Syracuse Police Department, per the report.

Anna Henderson | Digital Design Editor

Ryan Golden, SA’s Student Affairs Committee chair, said the report didn’t address the transparency of Greek life organizations.

“We don’t know how a lot of Greek life organizations act and how they work within the university, how they treat their members,” Golden said. “I think that that’s important to the Greek life review.” 

SU suspended or expelled four fraternities in the 2017-18 academic year, stripping them of their status as recognized by the university. Students are not allowed to affiliate with unrecognized Greek organizations, per FASA’s policy for recognition of fraternal organizations. The report suggested a “more aggressive stance” on unrecognized groups, including asking for members of recognized groups to identify members of unrecognized groups. 

“It is a lot to ask for,” Peter Choi, co-chair of SA’s Public Relation committee and member of the Theta Chi fraternity said of the suggestion. “But at the same time, it comes down to whether or not you’re willing to be responsible and take responsibility for it and stand up to what’s wrong and what’s right.”

 

Anna Henderson | Digital Design Editor

Choi said that the Theta Tau videos exposed the “evils” of Greek life and that his chapter has  made changes since last spring. Since April, Theta Chi has invited speakers to talk about problems related to sexual and relationship violence, bias, racism and drug and alcohol abuse, he said.

The next step, Choi said, is to “revamp” the recruitment process to make it more transparent and accessible for students who have little knowledge of Greek life or are economically disadvantaged.

 “It’s been really encouraging to see people moving in the right direction, but that doesn’t make us complacent and I think there’s still a lot more work to be done,” Choi said.

Published on January 15, 2019 at 11:26 pm

Contact Gabe: gkstern@syr.edu | @gabestern326