An effort by fraternities to create better relationships with the University has already begun with Todd Sullivan's recent appointment as the Director of Greek Life, and several Greek-friendly events hosted on campus.
Sullivan's appointment will play an important role in the relationship between the Tufts' administration and the Greek system. According to Joe Bornstein, president of Alpha Epsilon Pi (AE Pi), having Sullivan as a "middle man" will enable communication and "possibly increase the productivity" of Greek life at Tufts.
According to Sullivan, Director of Greek Life, there is a strong future for fraternities and sororities at Tufts if they are oriented toward the right goals.
"There's a lot of potential to both limit the number of negative things that may have happened in the past but also to increase the positive events such as community service, giving back to the larger Tufts community, proving the worth to the frats and sororities, and focusing more on their founding principles and values."
Problems arose during pledge week last semester, a time where new pledges are initiated into a fraternity to become full brothers. Two Zeta Psi pledges were injured during pledge week events, which lead to the suspension of Zeta Psi for the 2003-2004 academic year. Some fraternities are taking steps to eliminate any problems that new pledges might face.
As far back as 1989 the national organization of Zeta Beta Tau (ZBT) outlawed pledging altogether. The pledge system was replaced with a "brotherhood program," according to ZBT President Dan Perez.
The ZBT model stands that, "all brothers, even those that just joined and those who have been in for semesters, have to follow minimum brotherhood standards. Besides that, all brothers are considered equal," he said. Examples of brotherhood standards include following the tradition of the fraternity and knowing what the fraternity stands for.
While the ZBT model is meant to increase unity throughout the house, other fraternities find that a more traditional emphasis on unity within a pledge class helps to create a close-knit community among members.
"Our pledges learn what it means to become inseparable friends, as well as what these friendships can accomplish when everyone works together," AE Pi President Bornstein said. Bornstein explains that the pledging process at AE Pi gives pledges a "taste of the type of leadership skills necessary in any responsible position." Anything that could be considered hazing is "absolutely prohibited."
Sullivan has wasted no time in setting up opportunities for Greek life to grow. Two weeks ago, he went on a retreat with fraternity and sorority leaders.
"The Greek leadership retreat was a way to kick off the school year and have an open dialogue and do some goal setting with fraternity and sorority presidents," he said. Out of the retreat came a student-led initiative to foster a closer relationship between presidents and the Committee for Fraternities and Sororities (CFS) with informal meetings.
"The purpose of that is so that the presidents as well as some administrators can get to know each other a little bit better in an informal setting and explain each of their roles clearly so that everyone understands what the mutual expectations are," Sullivan said. "I'm excited that first of all the students came up with the idea, and secondly, some of the administrators are very receptive."
Sullivan sees the Greek system as being beneficial to the Tufts community in ways other than social life.
"I think that social events will continue to happen, but it does not need to be the number one focus for the groups," he said.
Along with the Inter-Greek Council, Sullivan also set up the upcoming Greek Block Party to be held before homecoming, and last Friday's "Meet the Greeks" barbecue at Fletcher field. Bornstein sees this as a good starting point. "The events the school is trying to set up to help us with rush efforts are terrific, however, my goal for the year is to try and integrate the Greek system into the whole Tufts community," he said. "The Greek system will hopefully be a supplement to everyone's college experience, not just those who have pledged their chapter."
"Our focus is certainly on student safety and making sure that students coming into the Greek system are going to have a positive experience that is not going to put them in any sort of danger," Sullivan said. "So I think it's a two-fold process -- one is education for both members as new members, and secondly would be enforcement through both officers and other people who may report any problems."
The educational component included the retreat, at which time goals and anti-hazing policies were discussed.
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