Gathered together to recognize and discuss the consequences of alcohol abuse and hazing, University Greeks met this past weekend in the Union to take part in a “Weekend of Dialogue.”
The National Pan-Hellenic Council, the Panhellenic Council and the Interfraternity Council sponsored the discussions and training Friday evening, followed by mock trials Saturday morning, and full chapter reflections Sunday.
Director of Greek Affairs and Associate Dean of Students Victor Felts said the event, which Greek Affairs has been planning since July, was not a result of any specific incident, but a combination of risky behavior demonstrated by chapters in the past two years.
Angela Guillory, Associate director of Greek Affairs and Panhellenic adviser, said the goal of the weekend was to proactively discuss and educate students on what could happen if they engage in excessive drinking, and/or hazing.
Felts said the mock trials were set up to show students the legal repercussions that can come with risky behavior.
“It shows, [a student] could be put on the stand and be put in jail,” Felts said. “Probation is bad, but testifying is worse.”
NPHC, NPC and IFC held individual mock trials led by three Greek affiliated attorneys. Both the NPC and IFC focused on alcohol abuse, while NPHC focused on hazing.
Associate Director of Greek Affairs and NPHC adviser Jerrel Wade, said excessive drinking is not an issue among the predominately black Greek organizations, but said hazing is a bigger problem than even he understands.
“Sometimes when groups aren’t housed on campus, [their actions] can slip under the rug,” Wade said.
By openly discussing the issue, Wade said he thinks the students can become more aware of the true ramifications of dangerous behavior that is normally just seen as fraternity traditions.
After the mock trial Daniel Tann, an attorney from Philadelphia and former Phi Beta Sigma member, discussed a real life case where a pledge was so badly physically hazed that he developed a stage two staff infection and nearly died.
Meanwhile, filling the Royal Cotillion Ballroom with typical courtroom banter, New York City attorney and former Delta Chi national president, Greg Hauser questioned several IFC members about excessive drinking at a hypothetical party.
Chris Hester, president of Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity and a general studies junior, said he thought the mock trial was interesting and provided a lot of information about potential consequences of common behavior in a fraternity.
Though Hester said he hopes this weekend will help out the Sig Ep executive board, he is afraid that it is going to be hard to filter the message from the officers down to those that really need to hear it.
“The people that are seeing this aren’t really the liability,” Hester said. “The whole chapter would benefit from this.”
Felts said that it would have been difficult to find a space large enough to hold full chapters, and it also would be hard to motivate all fraternity members to come, especially on a parade weekend.
The idea is for the officers to believe it and see the bigger picture, and then pass it on to the general members, Felts said.
“Hopefully, this will make [the message] more powerful coming from their peers,” Felts said.
Emily Jordan, the Panhellenic Council secretary and a nursing sophomore, said the event is risk management for all Greeks.
Jordan said she hopes the weekend was successful, but said it is difficult to get everybody focused with so many events taking place.
Several sororities held their formals this past weekend, which are commonly social events.
“But if everyone cooperates and encourages each other to do the right thing, this can be a very positive thing,” Jordan said.