Elizabeth Erwin
News Editor
eerwin1@murraystate.edu
The Murray State Greek life social suspension was lifted on Aug. 24 after changes were introduced to the social event policy.
The social event policy came under review after Greek life was put on a social suspension on May 9. The old policy was reviewed by a designated Greek Life Social Policy committee made up of University faculty, staff, students and alumni.
Vice President of Student Affairs Don Robertson said the policy review is not unique to Murray State but rather part of a nationwide trend to make the “safest environment” possible for students.
“There have been problems in the past, particularly there has been [problems] from non-Greek members but also this should be activities for Greeks,” Robertson said. “That’s one reason you join a Greek organization.”
Robertson said the recommendations from the committee will strengthen the Greek system at Murray State. He said the Greek community is a significant part of campus life, but it was time to update the policies that govern it.
“We, like many other schools, felt like it was time to step back and put a pause on things, take a thorough look at our policies and see if there were changes that needed to occur, how do we enhance enforcement and decide what needed to be done,” Robertson said.
According to the Greek life social event policy, a social event is a recognized chapter event where the number of non-members is greater than the amount of members, a guest list is utilized and alcohol is present or may be consumed by attendees of the event.
The following changes are some of several being implemented to the Greek life social event policy.
All chapter officers and 90 percent of chapter members will be required to complete a training that will include information on recognizing responsible versus non-responsible drinking, conflict resolution methods and bystander intervention. This training will not be required until the spring 2019 semester since it is currently being developed. Once created, it will occur alongside the already required training on sexual harassment and sexual assault.
Each Greek organization may host six social events per semester. Formals, along with alumni and family events, will not be included in this number. There will be a limit of three Greek social events per weekend with no more than two events occuring per night. Scheduling for social events will be established on a Greek social event calendar. The order for scheduling events will be based on chapter GPA. The chapter with the highest ranked GPA will be allowed to choose event dates first.
One of the new requirements of the policy is an increase of the required GPA from 2.0 to 2.5. This means that chapters will have to maintain an average GPA of 2.5 across the entire chapter in order to host social event, and members of Greek organizations will have to maintain a 2.5 GPA per semester in order to be allowed on the list for social events.
Another noticeable change to the policy is the addition of a software system for check-in and check-out procedures at social events. The Office of Greek Life and Office of Student Life will be purchasing the software program. This cost will be covered by a “Greek Fee” of $10 per semester that will have to be paid by every member of each organization.
“We are not really investing [financially in the new system],” Robertson said. “This 10 dollar fee that is going to go toward the software and any other speakers, if that is not enough [the University] will certainly supplement that.”
The fee will also help cover the costs of University-issued Greek identification cards. Attendees must present these Greek IDs and another acceptable form of photo identification in order to gain admittance into the event.
Attendees for all Greek social events will be limited to Greek members, with the exception of a guest list that will include the names of up to 15 non-Greek Murray State students.
In order to enforce the new ID policies, each chapter that hosts a social event will be responsible for hiring one third-party security person. The security person must be licensed, bonded and insured as either employees of the venue or a security company. The security person may also be an off-duty police or parole officer.
The number of attendees for social events has been reduced. The maximum number of attendees will now be limited to the total chapter size multiplied by two. The previous calculation was the total chapter size multiplied by three.
Each organization will be required to have a faculty fellow who will be a non-affiliated University faculty or staff member that will serve as a scholarship advisor to the organization.
“I know at least one chapter currently has that in place at the present,” Kathy Callahan, chair of the department of history, said. “As a committee we thought it made sense to bring in a faculty member to participate in chapter life.”
The policy was reviewed over the summer by a committee co-chaired by Callahan and Tim Todd, dean of the Arthur J. Bauernfeind College of Business. The committee also included one student representative from each of the three Greek governing bodies: IFC, Panhellenic and NPHC.
During the review, the policies of other university Greek systems were taken into consideration including Florida State University, Louisiana State University and Pennsylvania State University.
There are several differences between the Greek life system at Murray State and the universities used as a reference to form the new policy. Murray State has 22 Greek organizations with nearly 1400 members (as of fall 2017) while FSU has 55 Greek organizations 7000 members.
The document including all of the notable changes as well as the official social event policy can be found below.
Greek Life Social Policy Committee Overview
Full Greek Life Social Event Policy 2018
Listen to the press conference: