It's widely believed within OU's greek community that the McDavis administration has been unfriendly toward fraternities and sororities. Many are concerned that the Department of Campus Life is micromanaging important aspects of greek life through the various organizations responsible for governing fraternities and sororities. One wonders, then, why so many greeks are supportive of the current Student Senate. Over the course of this year, senators have done nothing to demonstrate that the concerns of the greek community are important to them, and this should lead their greek supporters to question the wisdom of continuing that support.
What could Student Senate have done differently? For starters, senators could have used their bully pulpit as the voice of the student body to urge Campus Life to ease its stranglehold on the greek community. As noted in this column earlier in the quarter, many fraternity brothers are concerned about plans by the Interfraternity Council (IFC) to phase out the more favored informal recruitment process and replace it with an unpopular formal process governed by IFC. Why hasn't Student Senate passed a resolution addressing these concerns? Shouldn't senators have spoken up in defense of the greek community's right to govern its own recruitment processes?
Of course, it's possible that Student Senate is unaware of these concerns. If this is the case, it raises another problem: Are senators even hearing the complaints of the greek community? If greek concerns aren't being heard on Student Senate, this problem could be easily remedied by establishing a Commission on Greek Life. Student Senate commissions exist to ensure that important or underrepresented groups have a voice in student government. The greek community is both important and underrepresented, but it is currently under the umbrella of the Commission on University Life. This commission already deals with a wide range of issues that make it impossible for it to address the multitude of issues important to the greek community. If Student Senate wants to adequately represent the greek community, fraternities and sororities should have their own Student Senate commission.
According to the Department of Campus Life Web site, 12 percent of the undergraduate student population belongs to a fraternity or sorority. Clearly the greek community deserves to be adequately represented in student government, and any Student Senate that is serious about representing the student body will seek to address greek concerns. Unfortunately, the current Student Senate has proven all year that it either cannot or will not meet student needs, and the needs of the greek community have been no exception. As Spring Quarter approaches and with it the promise of new Student Senate elections, senators seeking reelection will once again be looking for support from fraternities and sororities. The greek community may want to think long and hard before granting them any more support. Whoever their opposition may be, they would certainly be hard pressed to do a worse job addressing the issues important to the greek community.
Nate Nelson is a sophomore political science major and is on the executive committee of Lambda Chi Alpha. E-mail him at nn318806@ohiou.edu.
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Nathan Nelson
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