Monday, January 21, 2008

But we need them to keep the house


I have long been of the unpopular opinion that fraternity and sorority houses are more of a detriment to our organizations than an asset. At least three times in the last two weeks, students have told me that they have members who have terrible grades or bad behavior, and as much as they'd like to suspend these men and send them on their way, they cannot. They need the bodies living in the house.

So, they tolerate men with grades below a 2.0. They tolerate the men who are risk management nightmares. They tolerate the idiots who haze new members. It's a vicious cycle: they cannot get rid of the existing losers because they need people to fill the house, and they can't recruit new members because they have bad grades and bad reputations. Respect for their property declines, and the appearance of their house declines.

I say purge the losers, take the short term financial hit, and get things moving the right direction. It's a hard to do, but it's necessary to turn around a losing cycle. Talk to your housing corporation, and ask them to become your ally in the turnaround. If your house is owned or managed by your university, make an appointment to discuss the problem with them. Enroll your chapter advisor to help make your case. Talk your brothers into accepting a short-term rent increase to make up the financial shortfall, or cut back on some of your social activities for a semester to save some money. Move in some unaffiliated friends (who aren't going to cause problems) for a few months if you have to.

If you are about to begin the lease-signing process for next year, take a stand now and do NOT let men or women with insufficient grades sign leases.

The only true answer to this problem is to recruit like crazy. If you have more members who are meeting standards, you will have more members available to fill the house. With more good members recruited, you will have an easier time enforcing your standards and shedding members who fall below them in the future.