The University of North Carolina requires its Greek organizations to meet certain requirements to continue to exist on campus. In 2011, UNC instated a policy of academic performance, requiring fraternity and sorority chapters to have an average GPA equal to or higher than the University-wide average for two consecutive semesters. The GPA to be met last spring was 3.208.
Seven Greek organizations did not meet that academic requirement.
Options provided by administrators included either foregoing all social functions or suspending recruitment for the semester.
Three of the fraternities chose to forego recruitment, while the other four decided to suspend all social functions. These include activities with and without alcohol. This will be a semester without cocktails, date functions, mixers, tailgates, pregames and more for Phi Gamma Delta, Zeta Psi, Pi Kappa Alpha and Pi Lambda Phi.
This rule states that recruitment can commence as usual, with philanthropic or member-only events without alcohol needing to be cleared in advance by the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life and Community Involvement.
Vice-Chancellor of Student Affairs Steven Crisp said in an interview last week that he offered this alternative punishment in order to promote the spirit and expectation of the policy — to encourage chapters to focus on academic successes and the transition to college life.
One alumnus and fraternity member Steven Worsham (his Greek organization was not named) was outraged by the sanctions placed by the University.
“We should be encouraging the students to raise their GPAs by offering practical advice and strategies for doing so, not spitting in their faces when they don’t meet our standards,” he wrote.
“What kind of message is the University sending here?”
As alumni of this fraternity and having dealt with the pressures of school while balancing extracurricular activities, you are in a perfect position to help younger brothers succeed. Do you have any suggestions for this class? Do you think the university is being fair in its actions? Comment below or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
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