House parties and changes in how Greeks recruit new members are all possibilities with the release of the Drug Task Force’s report.
Greek organizations would be allowed to host parties in their houses and serve beer to those of legal drinking age. The organizations would be required to hire professional bartenders and police officers. All on-campus parties would have to be registered and approved by Vice President for Student Affairs Lori White and Dean of Student Life Dee Siscoe.
House parties could be held on only Friday and Saturday nights. The fraternities or sororities sponsoring the parties would be held responsible for any problems or issues that occur, with a possibility of sanctions for serious violations of school policy. SMU would reserve the right to take away certain groups’ rights to host parties on campus.
Focus group participants told the task force that the strict regulation of alcohol on campus forces formal and informal parties off campus. The task force’s suggestion to have parties on campus would allow students to socialize without having to go to venues that SMU cannot have control over.
The task force also recommends that all recruitment events during the fall, formal recruitment and during the new member period be alcohol-free. This would include all university-sponsored events and events hosted by individual chapters. All off-campus events, including the away weekends in the fall, would also be alcohol-free. Offending chapters would be sanctioned depending on the severity of the violation.
The report states that requiring alcohol-free recruitment would “reduce the incidence of underage drinking.”
A separate panel would be created to review when Greeks have recruitment week. The task force had lengthy discussions about when the best time of year for recruitment is. The group was split on when the best time was for formal recruitment, opting to recommend the creation of a separate group to make the decision.
Some on the task force suggested fall break would be the best time with pledging ending at the conclusion of the first semester. Others wanted recruitment to occur at the beginning of a students’ sophomore year, giving them their entire freshman year to evaluate the Greek chapters.
Another group of task force members recommended that no change be made and the current system of recruitment at the start of the spring semester is the best option. An ad hoc committee recently recommended that there should be no change in the current recruitment system.
The new panel that would reevaluate recruitment of new members for Greek chapters would include analysis of: when recruitment should occur, length of the new member period, time commitment of active members, rules for contacting recruits, the minimum GPA and hours needed to go through formal recruitment.
Fraternities and sororities are asked to stop hosting parties on and off campus on school nights, especially Thursday nights. Any off-campus parties would have to be registered with the Dean of Student Life’s office.
The report states that the task force “recognizes that Greek leadership must be a real force in changing the SMU campus culture.” In asking organizations to help make changes. the report implores all Greeks – presidents and officers especially – to emphasize the roots of their organizations founding for fellowship and service to others.
