AU's Interfraternity Council formally opposes a proposed Office of Greek Life requirement that all of the university's fraternities and sororities list the addresses of members living off-campus.
Interfraternity Council delegates present at a meeting Oct. 30 unanimously voted in favor of a resolution opposing the requirement, according to Elliot Friedman, Interfraternity Council president and a member of the Pi Kappa Phi fraternity.
"Why should we provide information that could potentially get us in trouble?" Friedman said.
The Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity initially submitted the resolution because it believed posting the addresses of off-campus members was unfair, according to John Barber, Interfraternity Council treasurer and a member of the Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity.
"The IFC voted to send a statement to the Office of Greek Life and Office of Campus Life that we found this to be unfair and that we would refuse to give them addresses," Barber said.
If a greek organization refused to include members' addresses on the roster, it would not be eligible to receive Greek Achievement Plan points. Greek Achievement Plan points are part of a competitive system that helps determine which groups will have chapter rooms on campus. Greek Achievement Plan points also help decide when each fraternity's rush, or recruitment, times are, Barber said.
These measures are not unique to greek life. Student athletes must also give their addresses to the university because of National Collegiate Athletic Association rules, according to Associate Dean of Students Sara Waldron.
Waldron was present at one of the Interfraternity Council meetings when members debated the issue.
"Students are concerned that we can just [use the addresses to] trace back neighbor complaints," she said.
The university would not use the addresses just to identify problems off campus. Having students' addresses is important in ensuring their safety in a post-Sept. 11 and post-Virginia Tech world, Waldron said.
However, members of the Interfraternity Council viewed these actions as being more discriminatory against students involved in greek organizations, Friedman said.
Students involved in greek life have higher GPAs than the overall student body and work hard to combat the stereotypes of typical fraternities, he said.
"It is ridiculous just to target us because we wear letters on our chests," Friedman said.
Greek Life coordinator Danny Kelley was unavailable for comment because he was out of town and directed questions to Waldron.
The Interfraternity Council's unwillingness to disclose the addresses disappointed Waldron, she said.
"There are some greek organizations who I've never had a problem with, but we have a handful who do," Waldron said.
Interfraternity Council members will continue to discuss the issue at their meetings until an agreement can be found, Friedman said.
