The steering committee should be applauded for some of its recommendations in yesterday's report. It had clearly considered student input regarding dining and recognized that decentralization would not be an attractive change. It also listened to student input and kept the single-sex Greek system, at least in some form. But while it did some things right, this period is for discussion on how to improve upon the document and serious improvements are necessary if the steering committee's goals are to be met.
The criteria for all changes should be true to the ones the committee set for itself -- that proposed reforms be both idealistic and achievable. While idealism is certainly evident behind many of the proposals, at least two major recommendations -- those of a revamped Greek and residential cluster systems -- fall short on achievability.
In the first instance, the criteria the Greek houses would have to meet in order to survive are largely unattainable. The near impossibility of these guidelines stems not from overly stringent requirements on behavior or decorum -- these suggestions are unquestionably realizable -- but are the product of financial impossibilities. Regulations, such as the one forbidding the summer occupation of Greek houses, would send many houses into bankruptcy. Few are debating the need for some changes within the Greek system, and the College should be commended for its attempt to end certain widespread abuses. However, many of the proposed new standards will not simply end the abuses, but will destroy the houses.
Also, the proposed new cluster system would be one of drastically reduced student autonomy, thus precluding its possibility for success. A "Cluster coordinator," a non-student employee of ORL, would "work with the students on the Cluster Council to enable them to plan and supervise academic programming within the cluster." There would also be a cluster advisory board made up of non-student advisors such as faculty members and administrators and a new rule that all dorm room parties including alcohol would have to be registered or limited to six students or less. There is little possibility for a residential system with these kinds of regulations and controls to survive, let alone become the dominant social system on campus.
If the Trustees are truly intent on creating an improved and viable Greek system as well as enhancing residential life, then they will need to eliminate the guidelines that prevent these improvements from occurring. Otherwise, the time and effort of the last eleven months will have been a waste. Five years from now, all we will have accomplished is the elimination of all social options from this campus. The Trustees can't possibly want that.
