SMU Felt The Need To Create A Greek Life Diversity Task Force For Some Reason

Harrison Lee10 years ago

In the wake of the recent events across the country, SMU decided that they needed a new task force to ensure their Greek life is diverse. So they upped and started what they are calling Greek Life Diversity Task Force. I don’t know why.

This task force is going to oversee how each Greek life council interacts, among other things. The school began discussions on a task force way back in January, but certain circumstances as of late put things in motion real quick.

From SMU Daily Campus:

SMU is launching a Greek Life Diversity Task Force to review campus fraternity and sorority life and to determine if changes need to be made to support diversity and encourage interaction amongst student organizations.

The task force will be examining the four Greek Councils on SMU’s campus: the National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC), the Interfraternity Council (IFC), the National Panhellenic Conference (NPC) and the Multicultural Greek Council (MGC).

Twenty-nine folks make up this fine task force, including students, faculty, staff, fraternity and sorority advisors, some Board of Trustee members, and even one fraternity alumnus. It is said to represent the broadest representation of SMU. Since the enrolled student body is 75 percent white, finding a broad range can be a little difficult I imagine.

The Dean of Student Life, Joanne Vogel, expanded on how the task force will conduct their investigation and what she hopes to accomplish.

Areas of questioning includes barriers to enhancing diversity of membership within each fraternity and sorority; outreach and recruitment practices of current members, alumni and national organizations; historical and current traditions and practices of organizations that may discourage diverse participation; how the presence of organizations impacts positively or negatively the social fabric of SMU with respect to diversity; and other issues from discussions about Greek life diversity on campus that could impact the SMU student experience.

“My goal is to ensure that any student that wants to join an organization feels like they are able to without any barriers,” Vogel said.

About to fuck some people up with some truth: As shocking as this may seem, we cut people from getting bids because they are a total buffoon or a complete douchebag, and we don’t want that type of person to be associated with our letters.

I did find this photo funny, however. Someone on Reddit posted a picture of the story in SMU’s printed newspaper thinking that the photo used was the actual task force.

Guess someone can’t read the caption. The photo is also old, and some of the girls have graduated. Not to mention the caption is wrong. It should say SMU Panhellenic Council. Classic student journalism..

[via SMU Daily Campus]

Images via Imugr, SMU