IAGGL met Friday, Jan. 24, 2014.  President Byerly joined the group and participated in a productive discussion about progress made to date.

The group discussed a proposed time table to finish its work in March, and the potential for additional meetings beyond the two scheduled in the coming month.  The goal of the next meetings is to produce a document, to be shared with the president and trustees at the end of March, that summarizes the successes and challenges experienced  by fraternities and sororities in meeting the four broad objectives for the Greek organizations.  Those four objectives are:

  • Fraternities and sororities must provide open access and engagement opportunities to all students at Lafayette (non-discriminatory in selection of members).
  • Fraternities and sororities must facilitate demonstrated learning opportunities for students and provide benefits to the College as a whole.
  • The academic performance of students affiliated with fraternities and sororities must be comparable to the student body as a whole.
  • The disciplinary profile of members of fraternities and sororities, as well as the individual organizations, must be comparable to the student body as a whole and other student organizations.

The specific metrics established by IAGGL during the first year will inform this work, but the finished product will also incorporate other sources of information, including committee discussions and information received from alumni during the process.

The meeting included a discussion of a draft of the accreditation program and a review of historical membership and conduct statistics as well as fall grade reports.

The accreditation program was still in draft form at the time of the meeting as it had yet to be shared with students and alumni for comments. The committee agreed last year to transition from the previously outlined metrics  to a more robust, annual accreditation program. The document has been shared with the AISB Board and with the fraternity and sorority presidents during their January retreat.  This document represents significant streamlining and revision from the Fraternity and Sorority of Excellence program discussed by the committee last spring. The organizations are completing this program for the 2013-2014 academic year.

The accreditation program includes categories for Scholarship, Leadership, Service/Philanthropy, Chapter Development, and Administrative Duties. Definitions for minimum standards are provided and additional information regarding how organizations can achieve bronze, silver or gold status are succinctly and clearly articulated. The benefits of the program are that it  documents organizational commitment to their own core values in addition to the College’s goals for the organizations.  It allows each organization to showcase their strengths and receive ongoing coaching regarding areas for improvement but it is forward looking and reflects what good practice looks like for the organizations.

The committee received three pieces of information related to historical conduct information, fall grades, and historical membership data.  The fall grades from the organizations were quite good and demonstrate a continued effort in regard to academic achievement.

The membership statistics were provided to place in context the current numbers of affiliated students within a historical context.  The number of men affiliated with fraternities had declined, which is consistent with the loss of groups over the corresponding time period.  However, the committee understands that the total number of men interested in joining fraternities is not known for any given semester, because the recruitment process is far less structured than for the women.  It is uncertain whether the decline in membership for men’s groups is solely a factor of the fewer available  groups or if fewer men are expressing interest in joining organizations.  The number of women’s organizations has remained the same, but the total for each group has risen slightly over the past decade, allowing for more women to become affiliated.  The number of women who express interest in joining an organization is known as are the numbers of students who withdraw or are released from the process.

Finally, historical conduct data were distributed.  Overall, the percentage of Greek-affiliated students who violate College policy is lower than the percentage of Greek-affiliated men and women in the overall population.  More detailed analysis of these data will be provided in the next update.

The committee next turned to a longer discussion regarding impressions of the process and observations regarding the campus climate.  A productive discussion followed including helpful feedback that has been received by members of the committee from both affiliated and unaffiliated students regarding their perceptions of the process.