The administration initially intended to begin implementing the initiatives over this past summer, with the alcohol policy to go into effect on July 1. The plan was met with protests over concerns about student rights and the way the policy was revealed to the student body. The plan to implement the alcohol policy on July 1 was put on hold, and since the spring semester, alumni, students, national organizations, and the administration have been engaging in considerable conversation. Dean of Students Mark Smith stated that forums were set up for commentary from interested parties, and that they were “impressive in terms of participation.” While the dates for implementation have been delayed, Smith said that the initiatives were not off the table.

The alcohol policy has been the focus of much debate. Even with the changes to the Interfraternity Council’s policies over the past year, Smith is not yet convinced. In light of additional incidents involving alcohol this semester, Smith said, “Alcohol availability has not changed [and] will not change. My thought right now is to implement the policy we originally proposed.” In response to the administration’s initiatives, the Alumni Inter-Greek Council and the IFC have been working on counterproposals and, according to IFC President Santosh Vaghela ’07, the alcohol counterproposal was sent to President Shirley Ann Jackson and her cabinet last month with a counterproposal on the housing director initiative approaching a vote in the IFC.

Smith continues to be skeptical, though, saying that he fears many of the proposals have “skirted the real issue.” At the same time, Smith lauded the greek community for its recruitment job this year, stating that the greeks had “better collaboration, better scheduling, more variety, and more interaction,” all without using overly aggressive tactics.

Helping to coordinate a progressive discussion on the initiatives, Rick Hartt ’70, a member of the Rensselaer Alumni Association and Managing Director of the Student Union, has been facilitating the communication between the various parties. According to Hartt, a recent AIGC meeting discussing the initiatives was filled beyond capacity with interested alumni, emphasizing the importance alumni have placed on these discussions.

Along with the alcohol policy, the two other initiatives included in the greek life plans proposed by the administration deal with recruitment and retention of new members and housing directors. Both Smith and Hartt are confident that the proposals will be ready for open review by the end of this semester, though Smith acknowledged it was unlikely everyone would endorse them. Smith hopes to have the proposals’ reviews completed and decided upon in the spring semester. Smith said that the Institute’s goal with these initiatives was “retaining what makes fraternity and sorority life important and relevant and removing those activities that cause difficulty within. It’s about keeping greek life as a strong component of the undergraduate experience.” Vaghela concurred, stating he hopes to “continue to work on improving greek life here at RPI and making sure it will be around for another 150 years, and be stronger than ever.”