While hundreds of students who rush fraternities and sororities on campus can expect a fun, positive experience, one speaker will lecture on the darker side of Greek life.
Judge Mitch Crane will speak at 7:30 tonight in Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium.
The judge, a nationally known expert on Greek-letter organizations, will speak about risk management, date rape, hazing and ways students can avoid incidents that lead to judicial consequences.
Of the 16,644 undergraduate students at Ohio Universities, more than 1,800 of them are members of a fraternity or sorority, according to the Greek Life office at OU.
Hazing and alcohol consumption are issues that Greek organizations are very concerned about, said Danny Grzesik, the advisor of GAMMA, Greeks Advocating the Mature Management of Alcohol.
GAMMA, which has representatives from every Greek-letter organization, tries to get the message about responsible consumption of alcohol to organizations across campus.
GAMMA is hosting Crane, who is a judge in Pennsylvania, as Greek Life's Homecoming speaker.
Crane became a speaker when he got involved in his national fraternity, Sigma Phi Epsilon.
I started hearing more and more stories about student behavior leading to tragedy
and what they needed was someone who would talk to them on their own level. And that's what I started to do Crane said.
Crane has spoken at more than 500 campuses.
The Greek Life division is putting new education programs into effect this year to combat hazing on a more local level, said Carol Preston, the assistant director of campus life for Greek Life.
Hazing is not prevalent at OU, she said.
If an incident such as hazing, substance abuse or other risk situations are brought to the attention of Greek Life, they refer the situation
to judiciaries.
Athens county municipal Judge William Grim normally deals with those cases.
In the past couple of years, Sigma Alpha Epsilon was referred to judiciaries twice for noise violations.
If it's an individual person then they receive a $150 fine with $120 suspended
with the condition that they do four hours community service
Grim said. If it is an organization such as a fraternity or a sorority
the possible penalty goes up to a $1000 fine
and I suspend $800 of it on the condition that they do community service.
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