Next fall, fraternities and sororities on campus will have a new set of guidelines for the pledging process.
Due to an increased number of complaints, the InterFraternity and Panhellenic Councils have partnered with the Greek Task Force this spring to evaluate and revise the New Membership Education Policy.
Rumors of a change in the hazing policy have surfaced, but Mike Stumpf, assistant director for the Center for Student Involvement assures that these changes are an evaluation of the new member initiations and pledging process and how it is affected by Otterbein’s conversion to semesters.
Current PanHellenic Council President Lisa Shoemaker of Tau Epsilon Mu said, “Greek Life is still adjusting to the semester changes and these changes are part of seeing what works for Greek Life.”
The switch to semesters has brought an earlier recruitment process. According to Stumpf, in the past, Greek organizations have used the full 10 weeks of winter quarter to recruit and complete the pledging process. Now with fall recruitment taking place in semesters, freshmen have less time to check out each sorority or fraternity, this delayed recruitment process means less time for pledging.
“There have been frustrations because of the time restrictions, but this is because new traditions are added year after year. Organizations need to evaluate what values of the organization are most important to teach their new members,” Stumpf said.
Those who filed complaints were mostly concerned about the time commitment the pledging and recruitment process takes. “The revisions to the constitutions of both IFC and PanHel encourage chapters to have a six week program that finishes before finals week,” Stumpf said.
“It was a little hard to work around. We normally have a five week process with four days a week, but the new three days a week rule had us condense our process hardcore,” said Matt Soppelsa, new member educator for Sigma Delta Phi, also known as Sphinx. Soppelsa is a sophomore public relations major with an art minor.
These constitutional revisions were completed in a series of drafts. First drafts were completed by Stumpf, Julie Saker, director of Wellness, Jennifer Bechtold, director of the Center for Student Involvement and Robert Gatti, assistant dean of students. This draft was then taken to chapter presidents and advisors of fraternities and sororities for their input. “These revisions have also taken input from other institutions in the (Ohio Athletic Conference),” Stumpf said.
“We are always trying to find what is in the best interest of the students so they have a safe and enjoyable experience,” he said.
