Fraternity life may soon have a stronger presence on campus as members take a closer look at the past in an attempt to make changes for the future.

A newly elected executive board for the Interfraternity Council already has plans in motion to restructure their system in hopes of increasing its members and programs as they attempt to establish a closer relationship between the board and its chapters.

‘We’re trying to get fraternity life in the heart and soul of campus,’ said Josh McIntosh, associate director for administration and assessment in the Office of Greek Life and Experiential Learning.

IFC intends to make changes next semester with its recruitment tactics, programming and forming a risk management policy to bring more students into the greek community and make the council a more active part of the university.

‘This is the turning point for greek life here for the upcoming semester,’ said Jay Biba, vice president-elect for programming in IFC and a junior public relations major.

As part of the changes, recruitment is of most importance, where IFC and the Panhellenic Council have been working together to increase their numbers during the rush period.

‘We haven’t been getting the numbers (we need) for rush,’ said Biba, vice president of Delta Tau Delta.

Approximately 250 men signed up last spring to rush the 19 IFC houses, said Charlie Walker, current president of IFC and a senior religious studies major.

‘We want to double our numbers from last spring,’ said Chris VanDeWeert, president-elect of IFC and president of Sigma Phi Epsilon. ‘We started a rush campaign with Panhel with all sorts of e-mails, huge posters, writing on the Quad.’

In order to crease their membership, IFC and Panhel have created a pre-registration period for the first time this fall to draw in interested students prior to rush in January, Biba said. The councils typically begin pre-registration at the beginning of spring semester, leaving little time to get people to register, he said.

‘This is the first year we’re implementing this in our rush,’ Biba said.

The councils will also hold a retreat during the week prior to the start of spring semester for board members and chapter presidents, Biba said, to focus on ways to improve their rush period.

Members from greek systems outside of Syracuse University will also be an important element of the retreat where they will try to help chapters achieve their goals for rush and recruitment.

The board intends to look at other greek organizations across the country to establish a better constitution.

‘We want to reorganize our constitution and see different greek systems from around the country and (apply) part of their constitution to build up our constitution,’ he said.

IFC also expects to see an increase in programming among chapters as it is a core value of the system.

‘We want to do specific programming and bring in new acts,’ said VanDeWeert, a junior political science and international relations major.

Biba said he also hope to include a better communication between the chapters and the board.

‘In the last couple of years, (IFC) has fallen by the wayside with chapter relations,’ Biba said.

In the past, chapters were paying dues to IFC without anything back from the board, leading to concern from chapter members, he said.

In addition to fostering closer relationships within IFC, the new board plans to form a closer relationship with unrecognized fraternities in an effort to reaffirm its place within the campus.

‘We’re going to try to correct the situation with unrecognized fraternities,’ VanDeWeert said. ‘Most are willing to come back, but we haven’t come to a resolution.’

The new associate dean of students, Roy Baker, has talked to chapter presidents of the unrecognized fraternities to see of possible ways to bridge the communities together, VanDeWeert said.

‘We’re reaching out to them because they’re reaching out to us,’ he said.

As part of the main plans to revamp the council as a whole, the board will implement a risk management program for the chapters, which may cause controversy, VanDeWeert said.

‘There’s definitely going to be conflict with risk management because certain houses are not willing to change,’ VanDeWeert said. ‘We want to improve on those situations. We’re trying to prevent it from happening.’

The purpose for the risk management program is for the chapters to see how they are handling situations and how to improve upon them, McIntosh said.

‘We’re looking at how our fraternities are managing risks,’ McIntosh said.

Although some members of IFC may not agree with the risk management program, VanDeWeert said it was necessary to improve the system.

‘I’m not trying to make everyone happy,’ VanDeWeert said, ‘I’m trying to make (the system) better.’

Published on December 1, 2004 at 12:00 pm