The newly elected Inter-Fraternity Council will work for the next year to maintain a united Dartmouth Greek system in order to improve public relations with the administration and community, according to IFC President Sunil Bhagavath '03 and Vice President John Lawrence '03.
Bhagavath, Lawrence and the other members of the IFC -- a representative body for all fraternities on campus -- began their terms of office on Tuesday.
Bhagavath, who has served in the past as Social Chair and Summer President of Kappa Kappa Kappa fraternity, said that the IFC, in conjunction with the Greek Leaders Council and the Greek community as a whole, must work to overcome a "feeling of mutual distrust between the administration and houses."
Lawrence, a brother of Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity, said that "the Greek system stands at a really tricky -- and I would say vital -- point in its existence."
"The Greek system does a lot of things that a lot of people don't know about," such as community service projects and "a very real commitment in many houses to academic excellence," he said.
"The attitude toward the Greek system has suffered due to the Student Life Initiative and events at certain houses."
He referred to the revelation at the now derecognized Zeta Psi fraternity last spring of the "sex papers," a weekly newsletter which promised "patented date rape techniques" and named female Dartmouth students in association with the alleged sexual exploits of individual brothers.
"The Greek system has come under a lot of fire and has largely gone unappreciated by a decent segment of the population," he said.
He added, "there are some people that will tell you that the system is exclusive, and I think that that needs to be addressed."
In terms of communication between Greek houses and the administration, Bhagavath said that the IFC "needs to address a lack of dialogue between the Greek system and the administration."
He attributed controversy over the summer about the implementation of walkthroughs by Safety and Security to a breakdown in communication.
"Some of the guys that were here last summer were a little bitter and distrustful of the administration. An open, frank dialogue between the students and the administration is the key to alleviating this mood of mistrust," he said.
But Bhagavath said that he had "no specific ideas" about how to facilitate the communication about which he spoke, and said that he "would rather not speculate."
Despite the challenges that they must deal with over the next year as President and Vice President of the IFC, Bhagavath and Lawrence stated that they remain confident.
Both praised the new representative structure for Greek organizations, in which the GLC has appropriated the role of the now defunct Coed Fraternity Sorority Council. According to Bhagavath, "getting rid of the CFSC has really streamlined the process."
"I think that this year will be positive. I think that we will remain a strong and organized group," Lawrence said.
