After denying Jewish-affiliated fraternity Alpha Epsilon Pi colony status for the second time last Thursday, the Interfraternity Council will meet to discuss possible fraternity expansion policy revisions next Thursday with Dean of Residential Life Martin Redman, Coed, Fraternity and Sorority System Director Deb Carney and Assistant CFS Director Megan Johnson.
"I certainly think that there will be amendments to the current expansion policy as it exists," Alex Lentz '07 said. "The policy has never really been tested before."
The IFC's second decision on AEPi's recognition, which took place during a closed vote, drew criticism arguing the fraternity expansion process lacks transparency and does not sufficiently represent the Dartmouth community.
The decision sustains the College's status as the only Ivy League school without at least an official AEPi colony.
John Tepperman '08, one of the five interest group members who pushed for acceptance of AEPi colony status, expressed concern that some members of the IFC did not vote on behalf of the entire Dartmouth community, but rather in their own self-interest.
"The last couple of years, certain fraternities have seen declining rush figures and that worries them," Tepperman said. "As long as we have small numbers, the IFC will express their worries about us surviving, and if we bolstered our numbers significantly, that will only feed their fears that we'll take away their rushes."
IFC president, Lentz, confirmed in a statement that "the primary issue was numbers" and that the IFC felt "the Greek community can simply not sustain another fraternity at this time."
According to Tepperman, AEPi could potentially circumvent the numbers issue by attracting members who might not otherwise participate in rush, thereby increasing Jewish participation in the Greek system.
"But we can't know that until we're actually allowed to rush," Tepperman said.
According to the AEPi national representative, upwards of 80 percent of AEPi's members would be Jewish, and some IFC members felt uncomfortable admitting an openly affiliated organization, according to Lentz.
"We were wary of setting that sort of precedent," Lentz said.
Tepperman countered that AEPi's Jewish contingent would be similar to Chi Heorot's contingent of hockey players or Alpha Delta's contingent of soccer players and that AEPi would differ from Hillel and Chabad because it would be a primarily social organization.
"We're not going to make them do anything religious. You can have a person who's brought up as a very conservative Jew who's tired of reading the Torah, but who still wants to have that sense of community with fellow Jews," Tepperman said. "And that's really what AEPi provides."
According to AEPi Dartmouth chapter president Patrick Karas '08, getting voted down for a second time has stymied AEPi's growth.
"We can't really do much of anything, since we don't have sponsorship or recognition," he said. "But looking on the bright side, the IFC is reviewing their policies for expansion and [ORL] is also reviewing their policies concerning expansion, so we've at least created a stir."
