The Greek Leadership Council adopted a new, stricter sexual assault policy, GLC moderator Alistair Glover ’15 said Wednesday night, that will immediately remove any member of a Greek house from their house upon a finding of responsibility in any sexual misconduct proceedings by the Committee on Standards. The previous policy only removed students from their houses if they were found responsible for such a violation and were then placed on probation for two or more terms.
The new language will be added to the GLC constitution by the end of this term and will go into effect at that time.
If a member of a Greek house is found responsible for sexual misconduct by the COS, Greek Letter Organizations and Societies office director Wes Schaub must notify the president of his or her respective Greek house within 48 hours of receiving the individual’s sanction from the Office of Undergraduate Judicial Affairs, according to the previous GLC sexual misconduct policy, approved Feb. 12, 2013.
Schaub did not respond to a request for comment by press time. Director of judicial affairs Leigh Remy declined to comment.
Once the chapter president is notified, the individual found responsible, the Greek house president, Schaub and the Greek house’s advisor would meet to notify the individual of the consequences, the current policy states.
Under the current policy, in the event of probation or suspension of one term, an individual found responsible for sexual assault or misconduct would be subject to social probation, be unable to hold leadership positions in the house or any Greek council, would be barred from living in his or her Greek house and would be required to go through an individual education program.
When an individual received a more severe sanction — that is, a suspension of two or more terms or expulsion — that individual would then be subject to “immediate and permanent removal from his/her chapter.”
In the case of the new policy, any finding of responsibility would result in immediate and permanent removal from the individual’s chapter regardless of the imposed sanction, Glover said.
“I think this is on par with what GLC has been doing for the past two years,” he said. “We are here to ensure that the Greek community remains accountable and a viable organization on campus, and I think making this change is a step in that direction.”
While numerous Greek leaders contacted either declined to comment or did not respond to requests seeking comment, Glover indicated that there was some disagreement over the new policy. He declined to provide a final tally of votes on the policy change amongst GLC members and presidents.
GLC votes are tallied anonymously using an Australian, or secret, ballot, Glover said. The election began last Wednesday, Feb. 18, and a final tally came in on Saturday, Feb. 21.
“There was dialogue regarding the new policy,” Glover said. “There were concerns regarding submitting to the COS process. There were individuals who had their reservations and felt that may not be the fairest process.”
Despite those concerns, the policy was approved. Glover said he does not expect any backlash from the Greek community regarding the change.
“We take a strong stance against any sort of sexual violence, and I think that’s a great idea,” he said.
Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity alumni and volunteer corporation president Herb Philpott ’85 said he was pleased by the change.
“Sig Ep at Dartmouth and the national fraternity fully support the GLC policy on sexual assault,” he said. “It’s consistent with our fraternity’s cardinal principles — virtue, diligence and brotherly love. Sig Ep has always stood against sexual harassment and assault.”
Philpott said Sig Ep has terminated members for other code of conductviolations before, following both internal and external adjudication.
Sig Ep’s Dartmouth chapter voted as a house to approve the policy change, and “were clearly in support of it,” Philpott said.
Student and Presidential Committee on Sexual Assault chair Tori Nevel ’16 said that the SPCSA supports the change.
“One of our recommendations is that student organizations hold themselves and their members accountable and raise their standards, so we really support it,” she said.
The 2014 SPCSA recommendations — released following their second annual symposium on sexual assault at Dartmouth last spring — suggest a policy that bans varsity and club athletes found responsible of sexual misconduct from participating in Dartmouth athletics.
The Greek Proposal, a selection of suggested reforms released in November by leaders in the Greek community to promote Greek-endorsed policies to the “Moving Dartmouth Forward” presidential steering committee, contained a similar proposition. The Greek Proposal called for immediate ejection only after a suspension of one or more terms, rather than after any finding of responsibility.
Nevel said the GLC provides an example for other organizations.
Nevel added that there has been misinformation over the change, and that some think that an accusation of sexual misconduct will immediately lead to removal from a Greek house, which is not the case.
The Panhellenic Council expressed support for the change in a statement released to The Dartmouth by vice chair for public relations Jessica Ke ’15. The statement said that Panhell is pleased that the Greek community is taking a stronger stand on issues of sexual assault.
Glover said that he does not anticipate further changes to this part of GLC policy in the near future. The new leadership of individual Greek houses and the GLC, who will take office this spring term, will be primarily responsible for the implementation of the new policy, he said.
“I think it will be up to them to uphold the standards and reevaluate the zero-tolerance policy,” Glover said.
Glover does not anticipate the change having any impact on individuals’ decisions to join or not to join Greek organizations. The policy, when it comes into force, will establish a new expectation for affiliated students at Dartmouth, he said.
“I think it sets the tone for what we expect when you decide to become a member of Dartmouth’s Greek community,” Glover said.
College sexual assault awareness program coordinator Amanda Childress declined to comment, citing a lack of familiarity with the policy. Sig Ep fraternity president Eli Derrow ’15 and Alpha Theta coeducational fraternity president Cristy Altamirano ’15 both declined to comment, and numerous other student leaders did not respond to request for comment.
Correction appended (February 27, 2015):
A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that Philpott said Sig Ep has terminated members for sexual misconduct-related violations before, following both internal and external adjudication.
Philpott was referring to other Standards violations, not allegations of sexual misconduct. Philpott wrote in an email that during his time with the organization he has not heard of any sexual misconductallegations against a member of the house.The Dartmouth regrets this error.
