New Greek Council Strives to Make Change

Thirteen Columbia fraternities created the Interfraternity Council last semester to better represent the interests of their Greek organizations.

The creation of the IFC stems from a need for a body council specializing in representing, governing, and fostering cooperation between the thirteen fraternities. The role of the council, according to IFC President Matt Heiman, CC ’09, is to preside over issues of party policies, housing, and recruiting. The council represents Greek groups which were not already represented by the Panhellenic Council and the Multi-Cultural Greek Council and operates under the auspices of the Inter-Greek Council. The reorganization streamlines the process by which the previously-unrepresented groups receive funding through the IGC.

In addition to the IFC, another Greek life committee is currently working with the University to review and change party and alcohol policies.

The current party policies, which apply to all University-affiliated social functions at which alcohol is present, prohibit drinking games, kegs in brownstones, liquor and grain alcohol, and require wristbands and the obtainment of a temporary alcohol permit two weeks before the event. According to Heiman, these rules are impractical for fraternities because of onerous costs and a cumbersome registration process.

Of concern to the Greek groups is the requirement of a party proctor whom the hosting chapter must pay to “monitor all ID procedures, distribution of alcohol, and disruptive behavior,” a rule prescribed by the 2007 Fraternity and Sorority Affairs Officer Manual.

“When a fraternity’s throwing a party and you have dues and house fees and national fees ... it really does start to cut away at any party ... if you’re putting hundreds of dollars in a proctor,” said former IGC President Margy McCullough, CC ’08. “I think it is impractical. No one follows it.”

McCullough said the Assistant Director of Greek Life, Victoria Lopez-Herrera is spearheading the movement to change the policy. “Victoria’s been great because she really has wanted to change this policy. She realizes we’re having an issue and she’s sort of our advocate and our connection between Greek life and the higher administration.”

The IFC is also seeking to ameliorate a shortage of Greek housing. Currently three fraternities — Phi Gamma Delta, Delta Sigma Phi, Zeta Psi — and one sorority — Alpa Chi Omega — do not have their own houses.

Phi Gamma Delta President Gregory Klochkoff, CC ’09, stressed the importance of a Greek house in conducting chapter operations, establishing a sense of community among Greeks living together, and attracting prospective pledges by offering available housing for students in their sophomore year. “Our [Phi Gamma Delta’s] current housing situation is maybe the worst of any house on campus because we went from having our own house which we owned here on W. 114th Street to coming back on campus and receiving no formal, permanent, centralized housing,” Klochkoff said.

In hopes of alleviating their housing crunch, Delta Sigma Phi, Phi Gamma Delta, and Alpha Chi Omega all applied for a house recently vacated by Zeta Psi. On Wednesday it was announced that Delta Sigma Phi, Heiman’s fraternity, will receive the house at the beginning of the next school year.

“It’s a little bit unfortunate because ideally you’d like to see a situation with Greek life where we can all have the housing that we want, and we could all be more cooperative with one another,” Klochkoff said. “The environment is pretty competitive. It definitely doesn’t foster the united, collected front the University purports to look for with us.”

Although the University and the Greek community might not have seen eye to eye in the past, Heiman hopes the IFC can work to improve these relations. “We want to improve the relationship between the Greek community and the administration and have more open channels of communication,” he said. “Fraternities and sororities have a lot to add to a college campus and we want to be a big part of the college experience.”