It's been good to see--members of Dartmouth's Greek system have taken the lead recently in resolving issues raised by the College pertaining to housing and alcohol policy. Both Coed Fraternity Sorority Council President Matt Raben '96 and Panhellenic Council President Dani Brune '96 have asserted early leadership through their organizations to provide a knowledgeable voice and to act as advocates for the rights of fraternities and sororities on campus.
It only makes sense that the governing bodies and leaders of Dartmouth's Greek houses take the lead in shaping College policy on issues that are directly related to their functioning. They have the greatest amount of practical knowledge on the issues and can best gauge opinion from house presidents and other CFSC, Interfraternity Council and Panhel leaders.
It should be the role of the CFSC, Panhel and IFC to represent their interests to the Administration, the Dean's Office and the Office of Residential Life. The leaders of those organizations are best suited to know the effect new policies will have on their houses and their quality of life. Furthermore, any new policy will clearly affect their organizations most directly.
CFSC President Matt Raben's role in helping to organize and co-lead a retreat to "tune up" the College's alcohol policy is a key example of Greek proactive leadership. Logically, the retreat will include six IFC members, three Panhel members, and eight CFS-affiliated students, along with advisors, administrators and other students from the Dartmouth community. This is a classic situation in which it is beneficial to have the bulk of the retreat's attendees come from within the Greek system since they are most knowledgeable on alcohol-policy related issues and will be most affected by any changes made.
Brune's role in formulating a counterproposal to the Office of Residential Life's plan to fill empty Greek beds is another example of leadership by knowledge. Realizing that ORL's original proposal was discriminatory toward certain houses and punishing as opposed to rewarding, Brune, Greg Jensen '96 and Ryan Carey '96 worked to rewrite the proposal in a way that would positively affect both the Greek system and the Dartmouth Community. Using both collective knowledge and experience, Brune has worked, and is working, within the administration and the Greek system to help provide part of the solution to the College's housing crunch.
The CFSC, Panhel and the IFC are governing bodies that are and should be shaping College and social policies that directly affect them and their houses. In some instances, and especially at the request of Greek leaders, organizations such as the Student Assembly should take positions and vote on policies. As for now, Greek leaders are doing well using their knowledge to their advantage and shaping the regulations under which they live.
