Tufts' Greek community may be lacking a director, but its fraternities have made it through rush season smoothly — and eyes are now turning toward how to carry out the former director's goal of reinventing the community's image on campus.
Seven of Tufts' fraternities successfully completed last month's recruitment process, adding a class of 31 new brothers.
Of Tufts' 10 fraternities, Alpha Tau Omega (ATO) accepted seven new members, Zeta Psi added five brothers, Sigma Phi Epsilon gave out six bids, Delta Upsilon (DU) added four members and Delta Tau Delta, Theta Delta Chi (123) and Zeta Beta Tau (ZBT) each accepted three new brothers.
The university's three remaining fraternities, Sigma Nu, Theta Chi and Alpha Epsilon Pi, did not take any new members.
Inter-Greek Council (IGC) Public Relations Manager Jason Clain, a junior, indicated that the figures were comparable to those of previous years' fall classes, which tend to be smaller than those of the more extensive spring recruitment.
The Greek community has not had a director of fraternity and sorority affairs since August, when Patrick Romero-Aldaz vacated the position. A replacement has not been hired, due to a university-wide freeze on hiring new staff members. In the meantime, Dean of Student Affairs Bruce Reitman is serving as interim director.
Reitman has expressed a commitment to carrying on efforts that Romero-Aldaz spearheaded to put the campus' Greek community more in line with each national chapter's founding values.
"I'm hoping that the momentum that is being made toward the reimagining of the fraternities and sororities at Tufts and the growth of a real position for the multicultural Greek organizations at Tufts is not lost because we have a hiatus in the position of the director," Reitman said.
Junior Joe Lessard, president of ATO, agreed that it would be disappointing if Romero-Aldaz's vision of a remade Greek community were lost.
"It was unfortunate [Romero-Aldaz] had to leave," Lessard said. "He was bringing the Greek community in a better direction, towards building community, philanthropy, and away from a bad reputation of being solely social institutions."
Most fraternity presidents indicated that the absence of a director had little impact on the rush process, other than forcing a bit more coordination among the Office of Student Affairs, the Office for Campus Life and the Greek affairs office, which is primarily manned by student workers.
"It did not really affect the rush process," Lessard said. "A lot of the responsibilities have been distributed among faculty and staff, which is less centralized and slightly more difficult, but people have really picked up the slack."
Senior Benjamin Shore, president of 123, attributed the smooth rush season to Reitman's effective leadership and administration.
"[Reitman] is doing a good job; he's very concerned about the houses," Shore said. "You might think that as director of student affairs there is a conflict of interest, but he's done a very good job balancing both roles."
The various Greek councils made an early effort to ensure the process ran smoothly. Junior Brendan Blaney, president of Theta Chi, said that the Interfraternity Council met early in the semester to discuss rush.
"Guys there already knew how things were going to go," Blaney said.
The Alpha Phi sorority gave out bids to 21 new members during last month's rush activities; Alpha Omicron Pi and Chi Omega, Tufts other two sororities, did not participate in the rush process, as they were at maximum capacity.
Reitman expressed his satisfaction with rush and indicated his intent to continue guiding the Greek community until economic conditions allow for a new director to be hired.
"We are trying to provide continuity of administrative support for the chapters in all three councils," Reitman said. "The goal of the Office of Student Affairs and the Office for Campus Life is to get through this semester, leading up to the big rush and recruitment period that happens at the beginning of spring semester."
In defining his goals for reform, Reitman specifically identified a return to the unique founding values of each house.
"[The houses] have moved away from those definitions that give a unique character to each of the organizations. It had just become an alternative social venue," he said. "We've made some progress toward reestablishing a unique persona for each of the chapters … which makes them something unique and rewarding, something much greater than hedonism," Reitman added.
Lessard, ATO's president, felt that this vision for the Greek community would benefit the entire Tufts campus. "I really support the motive for that. It will improve the Greek community, which could be a huge pull for people looking at Tufts," he said.
Blaney, president of Theta Chi, agreed.
"I would definitely say we are trying to follow our national character," Blaney said. "We do have certain values that we try to follow and we think about them in all things we try to do."
