When is the right time to join?
While there is a great deal of support for Greeks among the faculty and administration, some have become concerned recently about freshmen joining Greek-letter organizations before they’ve adjusted to college academic life first. Andrea Chapdelaine, Ph.D., dean of undergraduate studies and associate professor of psychology, says, “I definitely see the value of Greek organizations, but I also understand the concerns raised regarding academics. Although, that’s true of all extracurricular activities.”
Sororities currently hold recruitment during the spring semester. However, fraternities at Albright have traditionally held recruitment in the fall, allowing freshmen to join right away.
Records indicate that while the overall grade point average of Greek organizations is impressive, the grades of a significant number of first-year students show a decline during the pledging process. To this extent, in spring 2003, the Campus Life Council (CLC) recommended that the pledging/recruitment period be deferred until the sophomore year.
Bucknell and Gettyburg both successfully changed to sophomore year recruitment in 1992 and 2001 respectively. Moravian and Susquehanna hold recruitment for both fraternities and sororities in the spring of the freshman year, while at Dickinson, fraternity recruitment is held in the spring of freshman year, and sorority recruitment in the fall of sophomore year.
In fall 2003, Dean Daniels convened a committee consisting of the presidents of the Greek organizations, Panhellenic Council, IFC and Student Government Association, to meet with the CLC to discuss the issue.
According to Sally Stetler, director of student activities and Greek advisor, since the women have always held formal recruitment in the spring semester, the men agreed to alter their recruitment period and move it from the fall to the spring. Now, instead of holding recruitment right after Labor Day in the fall, says Stetler, the men will hold RUSH in early fall for upperclassmen, and in late October for freshmen. However, fraternities will not be allowed to give bids to freshmen until the spring semester when first semester grades are in. “I think it’s a good compromise,” Stetler says. “It will take the pressure off of the freshman men. They’ll be able to meet with the fraternities after they take their mid-terms.”
Enhancing the Greek Image
The percentage of Albright students who participate in Greek organizations – 21.5 percent – is low in comparison to other liberal arts colleges in Pennsylvania such as: Bucknell, 55 percent; Dickinson, 27 percent; Gettysburg, 49 percent; and Susquehanna, 25 percent.
However, Stetler says one of the goals of the IFC and Panhellenic Council is to increase the overall Greek population. The other priority, she says, is to educate the campus community about Greek life and the positive contributions Greeks make to Albright and the greater community. One step in this direction is the new campus newsletter, Greek News, published for the first time in November 2003.
As IFC president, Grispon says educating the campus community about Greek life has been one of his goals as well. “It’s the nature of the world to report the bad. Look at the news. You don’t see many stories about people raising money for charity. It’s about someone getting shot. We do a lot of good and we want to promote the positive things we’re doing.”
In addition to serving the Albright
community with activities such as spring campus clean-ups, each fraternity
and sorority provides services
to one
or more phil-anthropic projects. Chelsea Wallace ’06, a member of
Sigma Kappa, says one of the things that attracted her to sorority life
was the community service aspect. Sigma Kappa supports the Maine Sea Coast
Mission, Inherit the Earth, gerontology and Alzheimer’s. “We
go to the old folks home and play Bingo with them, do crafts with them,
just spend time with them,” she says. “It’s nice to give
back to the community.”
Tyler Travitz ’06, a member of Pi Kappa
Phi, agrees. “We’re very community service driven,” he says. Pi Kappa Phi supports organizations that help individuals with disabilities, specifically, PUSH America, the exclusive philanthropy of the Pi Kappa Phi fraternity. Most recently, the fraternity assisted Easter Seals of Eastern Pennsylvania construct a new, specially designed playground for children with disabilities. They also held a Disability Walk at Albright in October to point out accessibility problems on the campus.
“ The Greeks really are trying hard to improve their image on campus,” says Stetler. “They’re really trying to do things that are beneficial to the community.”