After a term of planning and preparation, Greek leaders will soon meet with members of the Office of Residential Life to begin shaping their Student Life Initiative-inspired "action plans." The house-specific, student-created regulations will replace the existing system of Minimum Standards beginning next year.
The action plans -- first described in a report of the Greek Life Steering Committee in June 2001 -- will be based on the Greek community's six guiding principles and will incorporate a number of recommendations outlined in January by Dean of Residential Life Martin Redman.
After a term spent creating a basic template to assist groups in drafting their plans, representatives from coed, fraternity and sorority organizations will confer with ORL to review the past year's priorities and to establish future goals to be incorporated into the action plans.
"It's a total learning process," Assistant Dean of Residential Life Cassie Barnhardt said. "It's non-punitive. These discussions will be about how groups can realize their potential based on what they learned this year, and to help them start thinking about what they can become."
Both Greek leaders and ORL administrators remain enthusiastic about the progress of the new plans, final versions of which will be due May 15.
"I think there's generally a cautious optimism," Barnhardt said. "This process is not going to be perfect the first year through, but I think all organizations are aspiring to do the best job they can."
Barnhardt explained that the action plans are designed "to give groups a lot of flexibility" in crafting their organizational goals, so long as those goals are in accordance with the six guiding principles of scholarship, leadership, brotherhood and sisterhood, inclusivity, service and accountability.
However, a number of other requirements must be in the action plans, including that CFS organizations refrain from alcohol consumption during business meetings.
Such meetings include executive officer meetings, Wednesday night chapter meetings and committee meetings, according to a January letter sent by Redman to the Working Group on Greek Life Action Plans.
At such meetings, Redman explained, "you should be conducting your business in a businesslike setting [with people] of sound mind and judgment."
John Lawrence '03, the public relations manager for the Greek Leadership Council, said that he feels the new rule was not designed to target alcohol use in general.
"I don't think it's aimed at stopping drinking in the frats. That's not the intention," he said. "It just cuts down on irresponsible or inappropriate drinking."
Other recommendations include directives aimed at encouraging CFS groups to better communicate organizational values with potential new members, the Dartmouth community and visiting alumni.
Another recommendation to established live-in student staff members at CFS houses -- who would assume a role similar to that of Undergraduate Advisors in residential halls -- will not be included in the action plans for the coming year, according to Redman, but remains on the table for the future.
With the drafting process set to begin, Greek leaders are optimistic about the potential for change.
"ORL has been very good about including us in the process and listening to our ideas," Sigma Delta Sorority President Farrar Evans '03 said. "I am positive the process is going in the right direction."
"It's really an instance of the Greeks and administration working together towards something," Lawrence said. "It's going to make the situation between ORL and the Greek system less adversarial."
Redman was also encouraged by the eagerness of CFS organizations to adopt the new system standards, but stressed that the process is only in its infancy.
"We will make mistakes, this being the first year, but so long as we go in saying 'let's do our best shot,' I hope everybody will see good results," he said.
