If fraternity and sorority members want to work out their problems, they have two options besides waiting for the police and administration to intervene.
The Greek Working Group - first started last year - and BACCHUS and GAMMA - which opened a Tufts chapter this year - provide forums for dialogue within the Greek community.
Senior Josh Cohn, a member of Zeta Psi, senior Caroline Hockmeyer, a member of Chi Omega, Director of Drug and Alcohol Education Services Margot Abels and Violence Prevention Program Coordinator Elaine Theodore run the Greek Working Group.
The group's goal is "to discuss any and all issues relating to the Greek system," Cohn said. These include what it means to be Greek, perceptions of the Greek system, expectations of Greek students, and possible steps toward improving Greeks' contributions to the campus and community.
The group was established last semester in response to the disciplinary actions facing the Greek community. "People don't get mobilized around issues until things get dark," Theodore said.
Abels said many members participated in last year's discussions.
The Greek Working Group is currently open only to members of fraternities and sororities, but organizers plan to open the discussion to all students.
All four organizers said the group has had a positive influence on the Greek community. Both Theodore and Abels compared the group to a think tank, where members brainstorm solutions to problems raised by their peers.
Discussion at group meetings is confidential, which organizers said encourages members to speak freely about controversial problems without fear of a disciplinary response.
"It's a tremendous idea, a model of how other communities on campus can begin to think about change" Abels said.
Another reason for the creation of the group, Hockmeyer said, was to place the responsibility in the hands of the Greek students. The Greeks "want to take care of their own problems" she said.
BACCHUS and GAMMA - a national student network - is a more focused forum for Greek discussion. The group began as Boosting Alcohol Consciousness Concerning the Health of University Students and later added Greeks Advocating Mature Management of Alcohol.
Discussion centers on drug and alcohol use on college campuses, according to the group's president, senior Charlie Thomas, a member of Zeta Psi.
In addition to discussion and peer education on drug and alcohol issues, Abels said, BACCHUS and GAMMA is working to train student liaisons to serve as a "sober identifiable presence" at fraternity parties.
"This is to be a resource for fraternities," Abels said. "Many of them already have an informal system to manage their parties, but to have this resource for any registered party on campus would be helpful. Maybe it would mean calling TEMS [Tufts Emergency Medical Service] sooner or to cut someone off if they are too trashed."
The group provides an "opportunity for people to come to think of ways we can implement these things and get the word out to students about proper alcohol management," Thomas said.
Despite the organization's coordination with administrators, "this program has always been student driven," Director of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs Todd Sullivan said.
BACCHUS and GAMMA meetings are already open to all students. "The point is to have a way to have open conversations about healthy living and making better choices," Sullivan said.
The creation of a Tufts chapter of BACCHUS and GAMMA was largely the effort of senior Alexis Liistro, the president of the Inter-Greek Council and a member of Alpha Omicron Pi.
Liistro researched the BACCHUS and GAMMA program and reworked the constitution to fit the University, but she is not involved in the group's operations.
The BACCHUS and GAMMA group has three committees: education and programming, media and public relations and student liaison training. The national BACCHUS and GAMMA organization gives chapters technical support, distributes pamphlets, plans conferences and makes suggestions.
Abels and Theodore said other communities on campus have forums for working out internal problems, but these two groups are the first for fraternities and sororities. "I'm a believer that you can't change behavior without open dialogue," Abels said.
