Kenneth Niemeyer
It’s not your parents’ Greek system anymore — at least that’s what the university hopes new training programs accomplish by mandating diversity training for every potential Greek student.
Provost Noel Wilkin committed to providing diversity training for all students going through Greek recruitment at the Provost forum on Sept. 12 in response to a photo that depicted UM fraternity members posing with firearms in front of a bullet riddled Emmett Till memorial. This program is in addition to other educational programs about alcohol, sexual assault and substance abuse.
“We’ve had convocations previously, but this year … we had a pre-recruitment education where (potential new members) learned about various topics that are hot in the Greek community such as hazing, diversity and inclusion, a drugs and alcohol seminar and a sexual harassment seminar,” Colton Terrell, IFC Vice President of Recruitment said.
Terrell said that in previous years, two directors oversaw all three branches of Greek life, but this year the Office of Fraternal Leadership and Learning added assistant directors that oversee each branch.
Assistant Director Grant Parker oversees IFC and IFC recruitment. Parker said that IFC was putting a larger emphasis on diversity and inclusion training during recruitment this year.
“(Students who did not complete the diversity module) can go through recruitment again, but they’ll have to do that module, and that’s going to be one of our bigger requirements,” Parker said. “There’s an appeals process for grades and with the PNM education, we have absentee forums, but the diversity and inclusion module is one of the big ones that we’ve stuck to this year because it takes an hour, but you can do it on your phone.”
1,400 students signed up for Panhellenic recruitment this year, and 937 signed up for IFC recruitment. 23 students were dropped from IFC recruitment because their grades did not meet the 2.7 GPA minimum, and 20 were dropped because they failed to complete required diversity and inclusion modules.
Students who were dropped because they did not meet the grade requirement can go through an appeals process, and students who missed the training seminars could fill out absentee ballots, but those who failed to complete the diversity modules have to repeat the recruitment process and complete the module.
Of the 937 students who signed up, 894 officially went through IFC recruitment this fall, an increase over the past two years. 866 students with through IFC recruitment last year. Parker and Terrell attribute the increase in participation to increased marketing efforts by the Greek community and outreach during freshman orientation.
“We put a lot of effort into making our presence (larger) at orientation sessions and having good marketing, and we were happy to see that succeed,” Terrell said.
Parker said that UM was one of “very few peer institutions” that saw positive recruitment registration this year.
The office of Fraternal Leadership and Learning introduced “Meet and Greek” this summer. The event was not an official part of orientation, but was held at the end of each orientation session in the Union Ballroom and allowed students to meet representatives from every Greek organization in the Panhellenic Council, IFC and National Pan-Hellenic Council.
Parker said the event helped the FLL office “bust” stereotypes that might exist about the Greek system and show parents how the community functions.
The seven historically black NPHC chapters on campus hold recruitment in the spring, separately from Panhellenic and IFC, because they have different requirements for membership.
“One of the big reasons why they don’t do recruitment at this time of the year is because they require twelve credit hours from the institution with which the students are enrolled before you can join any of their organizations, and that’s on a national level,” Parker said. “Even if you’re a transfer student and were going to be a junior, you would still have to do twelve full credit hours from here.”
Parker also said that one reason he believes IFC student participation has increased this year is that Mississippi has instituted legislation that is proactive in preventing hazing.
Hazing is a misdemeanor in Mississippi, punishable by a fine of up to $2,000 and six months in jail. Parker said Mississippi’s progressive approach towards hazing legislation was one of the primary things that lead him to work at UM.
“We’re one of the few states that has taken steps to combat hazing on a legal front without having to be forced into it like some other states have,” Parker said. “We’ve learned from their mistakes and chosen to do it instead of waiting for a mistake to happen.”
