Wyatt Smith
Features Editor
Greek leadership is petitioning to implement a Greek Board, a second Judicial Board which will hear cases when the offender is a member of a Greek group. This new set-up is designed to allow student leadership and the administration to more easily spot trends in Greek behavior.
According to Matthew Stouffer ’14, co-president of the Inter Greek Council, the Greek Board would handle some cases currently adjudicated by J-Board, if the offender is Greek. Greek Board would be made up of one representative from each of the 11 Greek groups on campus as well as Stouffer himself, in his role as the head of Inter Greek Council’s Standards Committee. In addition, all Greek Board hearings would be overseen by Joe Kirk, the Director of Greek Life.
Both Stouffer and Kirk emphasize the similarities between the proposed Greek Board and the current J-Board. They both mention how the student members of Greek Board would receive the same training as J-Board members. Stouffer holds that the punishments meted out by Greek Board would be no different than those of J-Board, since the College has set standards for what punishments accompany certain offenses. Just like in J-Board, any member of Greek Board who shares an affiliation or has a relationship with the offender would not participate in that particular case.
Kirk says that a Greek Board would help him detect trends and hold certain Greek groups accountable for the actions of their members. Under the current judicial system, Kirk does not receive information about offenders’ group affiliations, but under Greek board, hearing reports would go not only to the Senior Associate Dean of Students but also to Inter Greek Council. Kirk would also have greater authority to issue group-wide punishments to sororities and fraternities, such as taking away their Greek housing for the following year.
According to Kirk and Vanessa Logan ’14, the other Inter Greek Council co-president, other schools already have the equivalent of a Greek Board. Kirk specifically identified Davidson University and Ohio Wesleyan University’s judicial systems as ones he investigated. However, Kirk is quick to admit that any change must be tailored to fit Wooster’s judicial process.
Stouffer stressed that the proposed creation of Greek Board does not imply any fatal flaw in Wooster’s current judicial system. The only limitation he sees is the lack of group accountability, a problem he believes Greek Board will address.
“When Greek Life in the spring typically ranks around 15% of the student body, it makes sense for us to have kind of our own checks and balances, to a degree,” said Stouffer.
According to Kirk, the idea for Greek Board was first brought up several years ago when Greek standards were implemented. He says the deans support the idea, a sentiment echoed by Logan.
If Greek Board passes the petitioning process, which Kirk views as likely, it will be presented to the Inter Greek Council, who would then vote on it. Kirk’s hope is for Greek Board members to begin training at some point this school year, although they probably wouldn’t see actual cases until the following year.
Logan said, “It’s a huge year for Inter Greek Council [and a] huge year for the Greek community and this is just one of our steps that we’re taking to really… hold ourselves more accountable.”