[hoosier]

Dec 3, 2004
Frats criticize residential fellow program
By Tomas A. Pag‡n Motta
For The Diamondback


Some fraternity members are decrying a university decision to move graduate student assistants into fraternity houses as supervisors, saying they do not want to pay a university employee to intrude on house management.

Five graduate students moved into five fraternity houses this year to serve as residential fellows who act as liaisons between the chapters and university, monitoring food quality, cleaning contracts and facilities management. The Office of Sorority and Fraternity Life implemented the program to increase efficiency in programming within the organizations, officials said, and fraternities are required to pay their residential fellows $15,000 annually. The assistants also receive tuition remission.

Senior Residential Fellow Jose Lozano moved into the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity house as part of the program, which the university's Alcohol Task Force Final Report suggested in March be used to evaluate the report's impact on alcohol consumption in Greek houses.

"The goal is to increase the quality of life and provide a better living environment [in houses], to be the glue of your association," Lozano said.

Fellows leave disciplining to the internal fraternity judicial system, Lozano said, despite claims the program is an attempt to end drinking parties. Fraternities already have to register events or parties in advance with Student Event Management, commonly referred to as "frat police."

"Greek life is down so much; everybody's feeling it," said a fraternity member living on Fraternity Row who asked to remain anonymous.

The rift is apparent within the Interfraternity Council, where elements of the program, such as the fellows' salaries, remain a topic of debate. IFC Vice President of Administrative Affairs Seamus Hughes said he prefers a house director who is not a university employee.

He said he thinks the goal is to wean fraternity members from their houses into off-campus satellite locations to make room for more housing for incoming students. He also said he sees the program as demeaning to fraternity members and compared the residential fellow to a resident assistant in the dorms - a claim vigorously denied by IFC President Brian Novell.

"I would encourage anyone that expressed concern about the program to be open-minded," he said.

OFSL Housing Coordinator Heidi Biffl denied claims the program was created to improve public perception of Greek life or is a result of the deaths of two students at fraternity houses since 2001.

"This is not a cause and effect situation; we are looking to be the pre-eminent Greek community in the country," Biffl said. "If we were looking to quell fraternity and sorority life, I don't think the university would support hiring the staff."

But some members argue that this is another blow to fraternity houses. They cited the addition of door locks requiring an ID swipe card, the removal of horseshoe pits around the houses and party registering as attempts to change the negative public perception of university fraternities. ÿÿ