RED FLAG ITEMS
Some of the concerns about fraternities that emerged from discussions among Jordan Wichard, a 1979 Phi Gamma Delta fraternity alumnus, and members of the university community include:
- Governance and accountability.
- Greek judicial process.
- Adult engagement and supervision.
- Campus and community engagement.
- Health and safety issues.
- Risky social behaviors.
- Recruitment.
- New member education.
- Leadership development.
By Gregory Childress
gchildress@heraldsun.com; 419-6645
Chapel Hill -- A couple of high-profile incidents that brought negative attention to UNC fraternities this past academic year has university officials looking for ways to curtail inappropriate behavior among Greeks and studying plans to make academic scholarship a larger part of the Greek experience at UNC.
In January, UNC Board of Trustees Chairman Bob Winston asked Jordan Wichard, a 1979 alumnus and Phi Gamma Delta fraternity member, to investigate the university's Greek system and bring back recommendations to make it one of the best in the country.
Wichard's recommendations include encouraging more involvement from alumni by the creation of a Fraternity Alumni Association [FAA] to provide oversight of UNC's Interfraternity Council [IFC], an umbrella group for all of the university's Greek organizations and the appointment of a full-time IFC executive director who would report to the IFC and FAA.
"It's been a great deal of work, and I feel it's going to pay off in the future," Winston said last week during a meeting of the UNC Board of Trustees.
The two incidents that triggered the report include findings in September by the Greek Judicial Board that the night before Courtland Smith, the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity president, was shot to death by Archdale police, the fraternity had broken numerous alcohol-related rules at a fraternity party held at the DKE house. The fraternity was placed on a year of social probation.
An intoxicated Smith was killed after he was stopped by Archdale police on Interstate 85 after he called 911 at about 4:30 a.m., saying he needed help and was suicidal. The death was ruled justified by the Randolph County District Attorney's Office, which said officers involved in the shooting had reason to believe they were in imminent danger.
And then there were the September arrests of several fraternity and sorority members on cocaine charges, which dealt an especially harsh blow to the reputation of some Greek organizations and reinforced long-held negative stereotypes about fraternity and sorority members.
Wichard spent four months meeting and talking to students, parents, alumni, administrators, trustee members and others he says have a stake in the system's success.
Wichard noted in his report that even before he began his assignment, UNC's IFC fraternities had begun meeting to discuss ways to improve the fraternity system. He said he joined their process in mid-January and began to attend their meetings.
"Participants engaged in frank and robust discussion around specific ideas that could translate into meaningful improvements among IFC fraternities," Wichard wrote in his report.
In an interview shortly after he presented his recommendations to the trustee board, Wichard said he believes significant changes and improvement will take several years.
"I think you'll see some changes immediately, but it'll probably take four or five years to get through that process," Wichard said.
For the most part, Wichard said sororities have done a better job dealing with the issues and already have higher academic standards, more adult supervision and better organized rushes.
"I think sororities have dealt with some of these issues a little earlier and more aggressively than fraternities have," Wichard said.
If the university decides to adopt Wichard's recommendations, he said, it will be essential that the administration and the IFC to work together to implement them.
"Based on my work of the last four months, I am convinced that the university and the IFC fraternities have a unique opportunity to capitalize on a shared sense of purpose to drive positive cultural changes that will advance the goals you outlined at the beginning of this assignment," Wichard said.
