The Dartmouth Greek system is on the verge of a major transformation, according to Coed Fraternity Sorority Council President Shihwan Chung '02.
By early next term, the Greek Life Steering Committee should have released its report outlining the six new Guiding Principles for fraternities and sororities at the College.
"From what I can tell it is going to be a very powerful document that will redefine the Greek system at Dartmouth," Committee Member Chung said.
When the committee was formed of Dartmouth students, faculty and administrators last fall as part of the Student Life Initiative, the College charged the body with forming "new standards of excellence" for the Greek system.
Coed Fraternity Sorority Council Vice President Lauren Lafaro said that the new guiding principles -- scholarship, leadership development, inclusivity and growing diversity, accountability, and brotherhood and sisterhood -- were presented to the CFSC at a leadership conference last month.
According to Chung, the steering committee will make a formal report explaining the guiding principles in more detail sometime early Spring term.
For now, members of the steering committee are hesitant to elaborate on the specific implications of the guiding principles, according to Maggie Shnayerson '03, who also writes for The Dartmouth.
Currently, Chung said, the steering committee has divided itself into six subcommittees, each one concentrating on a particular guiding principle. When these subcommittees finish deliberations, their conclusions will be compiled into one report.
But even though Lafaro described the guiding principles as "a framework," and "pretty broad," though others have said it will have more tangible implications as well.
"The report looks at the system as it is now," Shnayerson said, "and outlines guiding principles for the system, but also proposes new structures and different regulations."
Shnayerson added, "the report will be made up of recommendations to the trustees, so technically they are not bound to do anything we say." But Chung asserted that "changes should be felt immediately" after the report is made.
He said that the committee is "upping the ante, raising the bar, on what has to be met" by Dartmouth fraternities and sororities.
In framing the new Guiding Principles, the Steering Committee members considered what they felt the ideal Greek system should represent.
"The report is going to be a very positive thing, because it is going to have the Greek community live up to the principles that are supposed to be its reasons for existence," Chung said.
Chung stressed the principle of accountability, and said "right now, each house's situation in terms of these six Principles is different. But if houses do not meet those standards, they will be held responsible with potential consequences."
He declined to explain what he meant by "potential consequences," but said that specifics of structures and mechanisms for fraternity and sorority accountability will be more apparent when the steering committee releases its report to the Board of Trustees in March.
"I am confident that the guiding principles will improve the Greek community and make it a stronger entity," he concluded.
