View Single Post
  #1  
Old 03-06-2003, 12:15 PM
Zephyr Zephyr is offline
GreekChat Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
Posts: 72
Send a message via AIM to Zephyr
Arrow Article on Univ. of Pitt's Greek Life Review

I've read their final report. I could have dumped out a can of alphabet soup and the result would have been a better report than what they came up with, which was basically, "There are GLO's. They live together. The numbers are down."

Pitt’s Big Fat Greek Life

writer: Brentin Mock


With the release of a new study by the University of Pittsburgh calling for “in-depth review” of the continuing existence “of any Greek chapter that does not comply with [university] requirements for recognition as a student organization” -- including the minimum 10-person membership requirement -- Interim Greek Advisor Terrance Milani says he has challenged all Pitt fraternities and sororities to improve their numbers. Currently, less than 10 percent of Pitt undergraduates are Greeks; Milani says they should want more. One segment of Greek society that took issue with the report is the National Pan-Hellenic Council, the governing body of Pitt’s historically black Greek chapters. According to the study, only 44, or less than 4 percent, of the 1,341 Greeks belong to the campus’s historically black chapters; black undergraduates make up 10 percent of the student populace. While traditional Greek chapters boast memberships in the 50s, 60s, or 70s, all but one of Pitt’s eight historically black Greek chapters have fewer than 10 members: Alpha Kappa Alpha has 12. Black Greeks are concerned for their existence, especially since recognition from the university brings funding. At a recent Greek leadership conference, a speech by Milani left Delta Sigma Theta member Bintu Sharif with the impression that Pitt would like to see its National Pan-Hellenic Council broken up and streamlined into the other traditional Greek governing bodies, Pan-Hellenic Council and Interfraternity Council. Not so, says Milani. Black Greeks were integrated into the traditional Greek councils in the past, he says, but the integration didn’t last. He also notes that “we haven’t done anything as an office to jeopardize any fraternities or sororities based just on numbers.” Dean of Students and Vice Provost of Undergraduate Studies Jack L. Daniel, who commissioned the Pitt Greek study from Director of public safety Deborah M. Furka (and who has, until recently, refused student requests for study results), said the administration won’t nix low-membership black Greeks; they need to upgrade their marketing campaign if they’re going to stay alive. Daniel (who has no plans to leave despite rumors -- see below) recalled the day when black Greek chapters were the only organizations on campus blacks could join. Today, however, there are over 50 black organizations at Pitt and some black students opt to join historically white organizations, such as the traditional Greek chapters. Public Safety’s Furka also called for other improvements to Greek life: a housing director to be a live-in liaison between frat houses and the Pitt administration; a call to have “off-campus” frat houses adhere to the same policies as those on campus; and an upgrade of the Greek Life Web site. If Pitt granted its black Greeks amenities such as housing, says Sharif, as they do for their traditional Greeks, then smaller black fraternities would be better off. If black Greeks had the right numbers, counters Daniel, “Pitt would give them a hall in a second.” Certain floors in Pitt’s Amos and McCormick Halls are reserved for sororities -- no black sororities, though, are represented there. Milani, for his part, says he never meant to make black Greeks fearful, but adds: “Maybe I did what I intended to do. If they have to ask themselves ‘Hey, we do only have two members, what are we gonna do about this?’ then maybe, I did win.”
Reply With Quote