The current vacancy in the position of director of fraternity and sorority affairs, unfilled since the previous director resigned in August, may lead to possible changes to the position itself.
In the absence of a full-time director, concerted efforts by the Office for Campus Life (OCL), the Inter-Greek Council (IGC) and the Division of Student Affairs have ensured that Greek Life continues to run smoothly on campus, according to an IGC officer and Dean of Student Affairs Bruce Reitman.
The current modified hiring freeze at Tufts has kept the position unfilled, according to Reitman, who is now serving as the interim director for fraternity and sorority affairs.
The OCL's increased involvement in Greek Life has led OCL Director Joe Golia to propose that the position be integrated more closely with the OCL in order to increase the efficiency of staff in both the OCL and the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs.
"We feel that there could be an opportunity here to help the position and our office by connecting it to campus life," Golia said. "So much of what the Greek system does is connected to our office … I think it would be a natural connection."
When planning an event, Greek organizations often have to go through the OCL to complete paperwork and get the event cleared. A direct link between the Greek community and the OCL would expedite this process, Golia said.
The Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs, as well as its director, currently fall under the Division of Student Affairs. Reitman emphasized that while the director's position will remain under the Division of Student Affairs, there exists the potential for more inter-office collaboration.
"The position will continue to be at the senior director level in Student Affairs, but Joe and I are talking about some reorganization that would allow for the position to be more connected with the OCL operation since it is so much a part of campus life," Reitman told the Daily in an e-mail.
According to Reitman, the modified hiring freeze for vacant positions is the only obstacle to filling the position. He added that the Schools of Arts and Sciences and Engineering are constantly evaluating their budget situations, and the financial possibility of bringing in a replacement.
"We hope to be able to move forward with the refilling of this position at the beginning of the spring semester," Reitman said.
The position has sat vacant since the former director, Patrick Romero-Aldaz, resigned in August for a similar position at the University of South Florida.
According to the public relations manager for the IGC, Jason Clain, the director's main role is overseeing the Greek governing bodies. Those bodies, which consist of the IGC, the Interfraternity Council (IFC) and the Panhellenic Council, in turn supervise daily activities of the 10 fraternities, three sororities and a few other Greek-affiliated organizations with a presence at Tufts.
"His biggest goal is to make sure that all the governing bodies are running efficiently," said Clain, a junior. "The Greek system is pretty much designed to run itself."
The Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs currently only consists of the director position and student assistants, according to Golia. "The director of fraternity life is somewhat alone … there are no real colleagues within the office itself," Golia said.
Golia added that a director who works in conjunction with the OCL could resolve what he sees as a problem of a lack of manpower in both the OCL and the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs.
"It would also give us another staff member to help at major events, like Spring Fling, Fall Ball, Winter Bash," he said. Currently, only three OCL staff members are available to organize these events, according to Golia.
The lack of a director does not seem to be affecting the Greek system at Tufts in terms of daily affairs.
"I know that there are things that are on hold until we get a new director, but the essentials of the system are continuing, and there seems to be a great deal of interest in rush as we approach the spring," Reitman said.
Without a director, Clain said student leaders in the Greek community have the opportunity for more responsibility.
