Talking Stick - November/December 2011 - 50

20

cOntInueD

RES LIFE

house corporation to let each entity do what they do best. The institution provides the land for privately owned facilities, the house corporation raises funds, and fraternity and sorority life provides the educated staff who keep in direct contact with the housing corporation. Through this partnership, the institution sees a direct reduction in organizational and institutional liability.”

relationsHips witH tHe institution
For many institutions, privately owned fraternity and sorority housing creates problems with behavior, vandalism, financial obligations, towngown issues, academics, and crisis management. Reducing organizational and institutional liability is a goal for every student affairs division, and one step toward achieving this is having residence life staff and Greek life staff training and working together. They face many of the same issues, so it makes sense to bridge the gap between the two groups and remove obstacles within the reporting structures. Currently, one way that Greek organizations and institutions work together is by creating a relationship statement, which outlines the support the institution will provide and, in return, states what the organizations are expected to do with those resources. Items that could be included may involve agreements about housing, student conduct, risk management, financial support, and on-campus facilities. Many institutions utilize relationship statements with Greek organizations. Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, has even posted their statement on YouTube for the world to view. The project was completed with students, faculty, staff, and volunteer support. Emily Perlow, director of student activities at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts, describes their experience of writing a relationship statement. “The original relationship statement was created in
50
TalkiNg STick

1998. Recently, we were able to work with students, staff, and volunteers to see if it remains applicable. The committee benchmarked the statement against learning outcomes stated by a variety of national associations. We worked diligently to ensure the statement was broad and encompassed the needs of all stakeholders. The statement creates expectations members will adhere to and places responsibility on the university, volunteers, and chapter leadership to support students.” Including chapters in on-campus facilities also encourages residence life and Greek life to work together. Shana Plasters, director of Greek life at Elon University in North Carolina, says, “By having the [Greek] groups in university-owned housing we ensure they are a part of campus, and we ensure there are safe, residential spaces for our students.” And this is just one of the benefits of working together. Housing fraternities and sororities on campus opens up a new revenue stream for institutions. In addition to creating more demand for student housing (since members are often bound by their organizations to live in their facility), another benefit is that these students are often chapter leaders – giving the institution a built-in population of residents who are members of values-based organizations, committed to bettering the community and dedicated to giving back to the institution. Michael Steel, assistant director for Greek life at the University of West Georgia in Carrollton, notes that housing Greek organizations on campus is a win-win situation. “The university purchased land to build fraternity and sorority housing and a parking lot. The only option for purchasing the land was to make it revenue generating. New housing was a desire for the institution, and a new fraternity and sorority village was desired by the students. It was a great way to meet the needs of the university and the students.”

Housing Greeks on campus also opens up new avenues for diversity. Although most of the focus falls on Interfraternity and Panhellenic councils, some Greek organizations are faith- or culture-based. Diversity can also be enhanced when multiple chapters are integrated in on-campus housing. Providing space for different chapters to live together and build a community, sharing a suite, wing, or floor, could be a huge step in assimilating fraternity and sorority members. Samantha McGinty, assistant director for Greek life at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, appreciates the strong community that has resulted from this alignment. “Our new housing for sorority members integrates affiliated and unaffiliated women, underclass students with upperclassman students alike. The staff is dedicated to create the inclusive environment we all desire on a college campus.” In the past 15 years, Greek organizations have undergone many changes after rethinking policies, membership development, and what it means to stay relevant on the college campus. They still strive to uphold the highest ideals upon which their organizations were founded while at the same time sharing their time and energy with residence life in order to promote a common goal: to create a safe and secure living environment that allows students to develop a better understanding of themselves in the context of a supportive community. ts

Keith Becklin

is a fraternity and sorority life program coordinator and an Interfraternity Council advisor at Texas Christian University. Email: k.becklin@tcu.edu. is a fraternity and sorority life graduate assistant at Texas Christian University. Email: summer.priest@tcu.edu. Graduate students and professional staff at Texas Christian University also contributed to this article.

Summer Priest



Talking Stick - November/December 2011

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Talking Stick - November/December 2011

Talking Stick - November/December 2011
Contents
Online Now
Vision
Just In
Your ACUHO-I
Transitions
Res Life: Come On In
Calendar
Special Focus: Map a Path
Regroup: Certain In Its Uncertainty
Training Day
The Transformation
Conversations
First Takes
First Takes
Reporting Out
Reporting Out
Welcome
Welcome
Snapshot
Snapshot
Talking Stick - November/December 2011 - Intro
Talking Stick - November/December 2011 - BB1
Talking Stick - November/December 2011 - BB2
Talking Stick - November/December 2011 - Talking Stick - November/December 2011
Talking Stick - November/December 2011 - Cover2
Talking Stick - November/December 2011 - 1
Talking Stick - November/December 2011 - 2
Talking Stick - November/December 2011 - Contents
Talking Stick - November/December 2011 - Online Now
Talking Stick - November/December 2011 - 5
Talking Stick - November/December 2011 - Vision
Talking Stick - November/December 2011 - 7
Talking Stick - November/December 2011 - Just In
Talking Stick - November/December 2011 - 9
Talking Stick - November/December 2011 - 10
Talking Stick - November/December 2011 - 11
Talking Stick - November/December 2011 - 12
Talking Stick - November/December 2011 - Your ACUHO-I
Talking Stick - November/December 2011 - 14
Talking Stick - November/December 2011 - Transitions
Talking Stick - November/December 2011 - 16
Talking Stick - November/December 2011 - 17
Talking Stick - November/December 2011 - Calendar
Talking Stick - November/December 2011 - 19
Talking Stick - November/December 2011 - 20
Talking Stick - November/December 2011 - Special Focus: Map a Path
Talking Stick - November/December 2011 - 22
Talking Stick - November/December 2011 - 23
Talking Stick - November/December 2011 - Regroup: Certain In Its Uncertainty
Talking Stick - November/December 2011 - 25
Talking Stick - November/December 2011 - 26
Talking Stick - November/December 2011 - 27
Talking Stick - November/December 2011 - Training Day
Talking Stick - November/December 2011 - 29
Talking Stick - November/December 2011 - 30
Talking Stick - November/December 2011 - 31
Talking Stick - November/December 2011 - 32
Talking Stick - November/December 2011 - 33
Talking Stick - November/December 2011 - 34
Talking Stick - November/December 2011 - 35
Talking Stick - November/December 2011 - The Transformation
Talking Stick - November/December 2011 - 37
Talking Stick - November/December 2011 - 38
Talking Stick - November/December 2011 - 39
Talking Stick - November/December 2011 - 40
Talking Stick - November/December 2011 - 41
Talking Stick - November/December 2011 - 42
Talking Stick - November/December 2011 - 43
Talking Stick - November/December 2011 - Conversations
Talking Stick - November/December 2011 - 45
Talking Stick - November/December 2011 - 46
Talking Stick - November/December 2011 - First Takes
Talking Stick - November/December 2011 - Reporting Out
Talking Stick - November/December 2011 - 49
Talking Stick - November/December 2011 - 50
Talking Stick - November/December 2011 - 51
Talking Stick - November/December 2011 - 52
Talking Stick - November/December 2011 - 53
Talking Stick - November/December 2011 - Welcome
Talking Stick - November/December 2011 - 55
Talking Stick - November/December 2011 - Snapshot
Talking Stick - November/December 2011 - Cover3
Talking Stick - November/December 2011 - Cover4
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