As Chi Heorot fraternity faces college sanctions after failing four out of six Minimum Standards during its annual review -- something that Greek houses have been subject to since the 1980s -- many other Greek leaders say the reviews this year have been stricter than in the past.
Based on his conversations with leaders of individual Greek organizations, Coed Fraternity Sorority Council President Shihwan Chung '02 said, "The way Minimum Standards are being reviewed is not necessarily consistent with how they've been reviewed in the past."
"A lot of people feel that their houses have not gotten any worse and in some cases have gotten better by leaps and bounds and their grades don't reflect that," Chung said, noting that many houses have gotten lower-than-customary grades in their most recent reviews.
Presidents of Sigma Nu, Alpha Chi Alpha Chi and Gamma Delta Chi fraternities said their houses were evaluated on stricter standards than in previous years during their most recent Minimum Standards review.
"I think a lot of things were certainly more stringent," Sigma Nu president Frank Yoshida '02 said, offering the example that members of the Minimum Standards review board went through the house's leadership manuals in detail.
"From what I've heard, it's a little more exacting this year than in the past," Gamma Delta Chi Fraternity President Nathan Mitchell '02 said. "They're looking a little more intently at certain aspects."Comparing last week's review with the one that took place last year, former Gamma Delt president Michael Weir '01 agreed with Mitchell's observations. "I feel like they were a little more strict in the enforcement."
Although review board member and Alpha Delta fraternity advisor John Engelman '68 said he doesn't think the way the review board judges the standards has changed "all that much," he did admit that "members of the review board may have been a little more lenient last year or the year before than we were this year."
This unofficial change in policy may have something to do with the fact that Cassie Barnhardt is currently serving as acting assistant dean of residential life -- the liaison between the administration and Greek organizations and a member of all Minimum Standards review boards -- in place of Deborah Carney.
According to Engelman, Barnhardt may be emphasizing aspects of the standards that Carney did not.
"[Barnhardt], because of her newness at the job, because of the perspective that she brings, was not inclined to overlook areas that previous review boards or Deb Carney might have overlooked," Engelman said.
Barnhardt, however, denied raising the bar this year, emphasizing that no official decision has been made to more rigorously enforce the Minimum Standards.
She added that said she does not know where perception to that effect might be originating.
"It truly isn't something new. It's really about living up to information that's been around for years and years and years.
The fact that the review board decides a house's Minimum Standard report on a majority basis also raises the question of how much one person can affect the decision of a board that ordinarily is composed of at least three or four people.
Although Barnhardt described the standards as "clearly defined" and "consistent," Engelman described a review process based primarily on comparison of a house's current situation with the organization's past record and the performance of other Greek houses.
"A lot of the judgements that members of the review boards make are subjective judgements," Engelman said.
Chung expressed similar sentiments -- but did so from the point of view of a member of the Greek system, not a review board member.
"They're very, very subjective standards," Chung said. "It's important to stress that it's not that cut and dried. Minimum Standards are not necessarily objective."
Several CFS leaders said they would not be against the College holding organizations to stricter standards.
"Things are changing. Holding these organizations to stricter standards or to stricter interpretations of the current standards will better prepare them for the greater demands that are going to be made of them," Engleman said.
Greek organizations are not against "raising the bar," Chung said. But if changes are made, it is important that house are made aware that more is going to be expected of them, he continued.
"I certainly didn't feel as prepared as I could have been and I think that was somewhat due to lack of communication with the office of the Assistant Dean of Residential Life," Sigma Nu's president Frank Yoshida '02 said.
Alpha Chi President Alexander Oren '02 expressed displeasure with the "unsatisfactory" rating given his house after its financial audit.
The rating was the result of a new policy formulated in November stipulating that any house in debt to the College receives a failing grade. Alpha Chi, which owes about $10,000 received such a rating even though it is following a plan which will pay off the debt by next spring.
