Greek organizations suffer from a lack of alumni and faculty engagement, deterioration of physical plants and lack of long-term planning, according to a report on the current state of the College's Greek system by the Dartmouth Alumni Council. The report, released in May, outlined several problems related to the Greek system and proposed a series of measures to help Greek organizations "endure and thrive," the report stated.
As a solution to the problems affecting Greek orgaizations, the committee proposed among other measures investing in capital improvements to organization's phyiscal plants and hiring regular cleaning professionals. The committee also recommended Greek organizations find a way to fairly spread the cost of hosting open social events, with students contributing financially for the benefits provided by Greek organizations, so that this responsibility does not fall solely on the organization members.
In terms of other long-term planning, the report suggested that the Greek system consider facilitating fundraising for the system as a whole, as opposed to fundraising for individual houses that alumni belonged to as undergraduates. It also proposed encouraging alumnae to "adopt" a sorority to advise and support them, particularly in light of the recent formation of Alpha Phi and Kappa Delta on campus.
Former Alumni Council President J.B. Daukas '84 presented the report to the newly-elected Greek organization presidents on May 12.
The report found that the physical plants of Greek houses, particularly all-male fraternities, need significant capital improvement and suffer from decades of inadequate maintenance, which contribute to behavioral issues. Members need to regularly maintain their houses and clean them more thoroughly, the report said.
"I think there needs to be a big shift in the attitude towards the Greek houses," Daukas said in an interview. "If the houses look like a pig sty, students will treat them badly. It's just absurd when people throw beer on the floor and urinate in the corner."
The report also addressed the "free-rider problem" the idea that much of the student body benefits from Greek organizations without paying for expenses and upkeep. The organizations would benefit from changes to their fundraising that would cover these costs.
Free riding is also partly to blame for the damage and incidents that can take place in fraternities, according to Tyler Brace '11.
"These are houses that exist for throwing parties," Brace said. "It's going to get run down, but it's certainly a combination of brothers and the guests."
Another contributing factor to "binge drinking, damage to houses, and an overall state of uncleanliness at those houses that host open parties" may be the alcohol laws and policies enforced by the Hanover Police Department, according to the report.
The U.S. Department of Education found that Hanover Police arrests more students for underage drinking than the police departments in the cities of all other Ivy League schools combined, which harms the relationship between students and the Hanover Police, according to the report.
The mutual suspicion fueled by police actions has caused many Greek houses to close their curtains and limit parties to their basements in order to prevent police from observing parties through their windows and potentially arresting them, according to the report.
After presenting the report to Greek Letter Organization presidents last spring, Daukas said he noticed a sense of complacency among students.
"What many students don't appreciate is that the existence of [fraternities] and sororities has been tenuous at best recently," Daukas said. "They're not going to be around forever if we don't do something to improve them."
Many of the problems facing Greek organizations can potentially be addressed by significantly increasing alumni involvement in Greek organizations, which would lead to an increase in oversight, according to members of the committee that authored the report.
"It's a two-way street," Chi Gamma Epsilon President Bennett Siegel '11 said. "Alumni have to want to be involved and undergraduates have to want to involve them."
The report included letters from various alumni, decrying the physical state of the Greek houses where they were formerly members.
"Given the prominence of the system in Dartmouth social life the condition of the houses is more than an embarrassment," one alumnus from the Class of 1977 said in the report.
From its survey of Greek organizations, the committee found that those with strong alumni support tend to be more successful, benefitting from their advise and organizational support. Moreover, some organizations can raise up to $20,000 to $30,000 annually from alumni appeals, in addition to other forms of support, according to the report.
The committee also mentioned the need to build sorority houses for the organizations currently without physical plants and to establish additional sororities, which should also receive houses. The report noted that there are 15 all-male Inter-fraternity Council fraternities with houses, but only six Panhellenic Council sororities with houses. The average fraternity contains 68 members, while the average sorority has 118 members.
"It's frustrating that one of the main issues addressed in the report is the horrible condition of many fraternities on campus when I think housing all of the sororities is an issue of equal value," Panhell President Anna Sonstegard '11 said.
The information contained in the report was collected by an Alumni Council committee over a period of about two years, according to Daukas, who led the initiative. The committee, which consisted of alumni, students and College administrators, also sought to include input from current fraternity and sorority members.
"We surveyed all of the students in Greek houses as well as their house advisors," Daukas said. "We also met with all the leaders of the [Panhellenic] Council and the Interfraternity council."
