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Iowa Greek Express, 1971

The Iowa Greek Express, Vol. 3 Page 4

IFC Executive Council. Left to right, Joe Jurschak, Bob Buchta, Barry Lyerly (advisor), and Scott Harrison

COMMITTEE FOR GREEK REFORM

BY RANDY THOMPSON

This semester the Tinter-Fraternity Council, in its continuous effort to reform old methods and to seek new ideas which will be improve the Greek system, has set up a Committee for Greek Reform to investigate areas in the fraternity system which are in desperate need of change. The purpose of the committee, headed by Mark Stodola, has been to evaluate and suggest improvement in the three areas of rush, pledgship, and Greek attitude and evaluation of themselves.

According to Stodola, one of the most urgent needs of today's fraternity is for reorganization of the badly outdated pledge program. However a compromise must be reached between the hard core "pledges are animal" tradition and a hypocritical "be my brother" attitude since neither of these complies with the relationships among men in this day and age. The Committee for Greek Reform, a promising answer to this dilemma, has been engaged in an anonymous evaluative study of the present methods used in fraternities at the University of Iowa in order to contrast, compare and develop the most effective techniques that the study uncovers.

Among the old methods being questioned are the pledge father-pledgeson relationship and the importance these roles play in pledgship and whether the formal rush program should be abolished and replaced with a new, more relaxed and sincere form of acquainting rushees with a fraternity.
Discussions with pledge trainers representing all the fraternities on campus have brought to light the pledge's attitudes and reactions toward the old system as well as ideas towards a more effective pledge program. These reactions are being brought before I.F.C. and analyzed by people who are concerned about the future of the fraternity system at the University of Iowa. The conclusions reached by the I.F.C. will be presented to each house in a pamphlet which will suggest the most successful techniques of pledgship and rush.
The third area under study is that of Greek attitude toward themselves and will include an analysis of what Greeks feel about the future of the system, whether or not they think fraternities are stereotyped, and if the Greek system proves an obstacle to the ever increasing move towards individuality.
Stodola feels that the area of Greek attitude is probably the most important aspect in the study and has expressed his concern over the apathy that has been shown towards the I.F.C. and its attempts to improve a system chained to a tradition which became obsolete with the raccoon skin coat.
"What really gets me," Stodola remarked, is that most people just don't care. I am concerned that I, as a senior, am working for reform which really won't effect me next year. The people who should be concerned with reform are the freshmen, sophomores, and juniors."
The I.F.C. urges anyone who is interested in this program to get in touch with Mark Stodola (Beta Theta Pi) or Larry Audlehelm (Delta Chi).

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IFC Executive Council. Left to right, Joe Jurschak, Bob Buchta, Barry Lyerly (advisor), and Scott Harrison COMMITTEE FOR GREEK REFORM BY RANDY THOMPSON This semester the Tinter-Fraternity Council, in its continuous effort to reform old methods and to seek new ideas which will be improve the Greek system, has set up a Committee for Greek Reform to investigate areas in the fraternity system which are in desperate need of change. The purpose of the committee, headed by Mark Stodola, has been to evaluate and suggest improvement in the three areas of rush, pledgship, and Greek attitude and evaluation of themselves. According to Stodola, one of the most urgent needs of today's fraternity is for reorganization of the badly outdated pledge program. However a compromise must be reached between the hard core "pledges are animal" tradition and a hypocritical "be my brother" attitude since neither of these complies with the relationships among men in this day and age. The Committee for Greek Reform, a promising answer to this dilemma, has been engaged in an anonymous evaluative study of the present methods used in fraternities at the University of Iowa in order to contrast, compare and develop the most effective techniques that the study uncovers. Among the old methods being questioned are the pledge father-pledgeson relationship and the importance these roles play in pledgship and whether the formal rush program should be abolished and replaced with a new, more relaxed and sincere form of acquainting rushees with a fraternity. Discussions with pledge trainers representing all the fraternities on campus have brought to light the pledge's attitudes and reactions toward the old system as well as ideas towards a more effective pledge program. These reactions are being brought before I.F.C. and analyzed by people who are concerned about the future of the fraternity system at the University of Iowa. The conclusions reached by the I.F.C. will be presented to each house in a pamphlet which will suggest the most successful techniques of pledgship and rush. The third area under study is that of Greek attitude toward themselves and will include an analysis of what Greeks feel about the future of the system, whether or not they think fraternities are stereotyped, and if the Greek system proves an obstacle to the ever increasing move towards individuality. Stodola feels that the area of Greek attitude is probably the most important aspect in the study and has expressed his concern over the apathy that has been shown towards the I.F.C. and its attempts to improve a system chained to a tradition which became obsolete with the raccoon skin coat. "What really gets me," Stodola remarked, is that most people just don't care. I am concerned that I, as a senior, am working for reform which really won't effect me next year. The people who should be concerned with reform are the freshmen, sophomores, and juniors." The I.F.C. urges anyone who is interested in this program to get in touch with Mark Stodola (Beta Theta Pi) or Larry Audlehelm (Delta Chi).