Greek Life
Relationship Statement for Greek-Letter Fraternities and
Sororities
at Towson University
1) The University recognizes the rights of assembly and freedom of speech for
all members of the University community. Students
are therefore free to organize and assemble provided that they abide by local,
state, and federal law.
In
bringing structure and organization to the Greek system, the University is mindful
of the constitutional rights of students.
2)
All student organizations at Towson University are recognized by the Student
Government Association. All SGA
recognized organizations receive certain rights and responsibilities as a result
of their affiliation with the University. These rights and responsibilities are spelled out in the SGA
Manual and in Student Organizational Handbook.
The University has
designated the SGA as its agent in recognizing student organizations.
SGA sets the criteria which student groups must meet to obtain the
University’s benefits.
3) The University is committed to insuring
that participation in a Greek letter organization on this campus is a safe,
positive, and enriching experience. These standards were developed to realize
that goal.
Greek organizations can be held to a different standard of affiliation
than other student groups because they purport to have an educational mission
and a legal identity separate from the University.
The different standard is justified because the educational agenda of
Greek letter organizations is outside the direct control of the University and
thus requires review to ensure that the agenda and direction of the group
complement the mission of the University. The
University had the right and responsibility to choose carefully the affiliates
claiming to be partners in the University’s educational mission.
4) Student
Involvement and Transitions will offer leadership training workshops and
educational seminars to promote chapter excellence.
Student
Involvement and Transitions advises the Greek system and wishes to provide
chapters with information to help them run successful organizations.
5) All grade
releases must be obtained through Student Involvement and Transitions.
Student
Involvement and Transitions seeks to help Greeks by monitoring academic progress
within a group and assisting with scholarship programming.
6) Each Greek
organization is required to have at least one active alumnus advisor, and is
encouraged to have an additional advisor who is on the faculty or staff of the
University.
Experience
has shown that Greek chapters do significantly better with active alumni
involvement than chapters that do not have this support.
Additionally, it is an asset to have someone on the faculty or staff who
can bring the Greek point of view to discussions of campus policy.
7) All office holders in Greek
organizations must be degree candidates at Towson University with a minimum
cumulative GPA of 2.0.
Officers of student organizations at Towson
University should in fact be enrolled students at the University.
8) Each
Greek organization must furnish to Student Involvement and Transitions a list of
the current semester officers, local/alumni chapter advisor, faculty/staff
advisor, and regional officers, along with addresses and telephone numbers for
each.
The
University needs to know who is in charge of the organization and who is
responsible for the group’s actions.
9) The Executive
Boards of each Greek organization, including the membership educator if not
normally included on the Executive Board, must meet with the Greek Advisor
during the first month of classes in each semester before the pledge period
begins to review University policies and procedures.
There
are many important policies that Greeks need to be aware of and the University
wants to insure that Greeks know about them.
It is also important for chapter officers and the Greek Advisor to become
acquainted in a non-crisis setting.
10) Each
membership educator must submit to the Greek Advisor a written copy of the
chapter’s membership education program signed by the chapter advisor(s).
This information is to include:
-Names, addresses, and phone numbers of prospective assistants.
-Names,
social security numbers, addresses, and phone numbers of prospective members.
-Beginning
and ending dates of membership education period.
Membership education is one of
the most important aspects of a chapter’s educational agenda.
The University wishes to promote membership education as a positive,
enriching experience, and will review the program with the chapter to help make
it so.
11) Students must
possess a 2.00 cumulative GPA prior to affiliation with a Greek organization,
excluding first semester freshman and new students.
Just as the University can
require a higher GPA for admission to academic programs, so too can it require
that students taking on the responsibilities of Greek affiliation demonstrate an
adequate educational foundation. A
2.00 indicates that the student possesses the ability to maintain academic
progress while participating is a Greek organization.
Because transfer students must have a 2.00 for admission, they are
eligible to affiliate their first semester on campus.
12) New
Members/Associates must be degree candidates at Towson University for the
duration of the membership education period.
Prospective members must be encouraged to place priority on academics.
13) Each new
member/associate class must meet with the Greek Advisor at least once during the
new member period.
There
are policies which prospective members need to be made aware of concerning,
among other things, hazing and alcohol. It
is also important for prospective to become acquainted with the Greek Advisor
prior to initiation.
14) The University
recognizes that Greek organizations employ selectivity in recruiting new
members. The University further
recognizes that some Greek memberships are grounded in a particular cultural of
historical heritage. Mindful of
these cultural and historical legacies, the University encourages Greek
organizations to abide by the Towson University non-discrimination policy which
prohibits discrimination based on race, color, religion, national origin, age,
condition of handicap, martial status or political affiliation.
Greek organizations are by
definition selective in nature. It is acceptable to be a discriminating organization; it is
not acceptable to be discriminatory. Selection
based on such character traits as leadership ability, scholarship, enthusiasm,
and congeniality is perfectly reasonable. Selection
based solely on race, creed, national origin, age, handicap, marital status, or
politics is not. Greeks should
recognize the added strength, which will accrue to their organizations through a
diversified membership.
15) Individual
chapters, the Pan-Hellenic Council, the Interfraternity Council, and the
Panhellenic Association are bound by the same Student Government Association
regulations and procedures that are followed by other student organizations,
subject to the provisions of Section 86.14 of Title IX of the Education Acts of
1972, and will receive the same benefits as other student groups.
Section 86.14 of Title IX of the Education Acts of 1972
allows Greek organizations to be maintain single sex
memberships. This section
quarentees that all student groups will receive equal benefits from the
University.
16) Greek letter
organizations are free to exist with or without University benefits; they must
conduct themselves in accordance with these standards and in a manor
complementary to the mission of the University.
Greek
organizations, by virtue of alumni support, foundations, and professional staff,
are able to exist without the support or approval of the University.
However, in order to take advantages of the University’s benefits and
facilities, chapters must be a positive addition to the academic community.
The University has no obligation to allow access to University facilities
to an organization, which disrupts the campus community.
17) The University
has a mission to maintain a safe, productive academic and co-curricular
environment, and is within its rights to restrict the use of University
facilities to those groups compromising that mission.
The State of Maryland charges
Towson University with an on-going educational mission.
The U.S Supreme Court has upheld the right of institutions to make sure
that the organizations don’t disrupt the academic and co-curricular
environment.
18) Alcohol events
as part of membership education are specifically prohibited.
Chapters may not require nor encourage a prospective member to consume
alcohol as a prerequisite for membership.
Consumption of alcohol has
nothing to do with fitness for Greek affiliation.
The vast majority of hazing deaths and accidents occur while participants
are under the influence of alcohol. In
addition to being illegal for those under 21 to drink, minors who drink often do
not recognize their limits of consumption, and often drink to demonstrate that
they can “hold their own” with the actives.
This leads in many cases to sickness, and too often results in injury or
death.
19) The University
discourages the organization or sponsorship by a Greek organization for any
student subsidiary group (little sisters, sweethearts, etc.) which does not
offer full membership in the parent organization.
Any organization choosing to organize or sponsor a subsidiary group will
be held responsible for the actions of the group despite any claim or
proclamation to the contrary made by the chapter or the national.
Greeks are granted single sex
membership by law. By organizing a
subsidiary group, the organization is in effect saying that it wants the
opposite sex involved in the organization without having to grant full
membership rights to the subsidiary. This jeopardizes the organization’s exemption from the
University’s sex discrimination policy because the chapter cannot claim to be
a single sex organization when members of the opposite sex are involved with the
group in an organized manner. In
any case, the parent organization in responsible for the actions of the subsidy
group, even if the national of the chapter has a policy which does not recognize
subsidiary groups.
20) Violations of these standards will be
referred to the University Office of Judicial Affairs to be processed as judicial
infractions.
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