Spring has sprung and it seems like every week there has been a new headline of fraternity misbehavior. As decisions like Oklahoma and Penn State and Rutgers are popping up all over the country. We (Fraternity and Sorority Life professionals) are ALL trying to find the answers, pressured to make the moves to bring a calm to this Greek storm.

I want to add something to the conversation that NO one has considered. How many of these reports consider the multicultural fraternities (NPHC, NALFO, NAPA) on campus? I don’t want to go down the road of loaded academic jargon about the differences between culturally based fraternities and IFC fraternities. The real talk of this issue is that the answers could lie in the very community that is not being mentioned. While there are MANY issues in culturally based fraternities, their organizations have a system in place that ensures that if a chapter messes up in ANY way…there are 0 second chances. I have not seen one article or headline about an HBCU, or Hispanic Serving Institution shutting down the entire Greek system.

There has to be bigger confidence in the communities that are home to IFC and culturally based fraternities. For the life of me, I cannot understand why culturally based fraternities consider IFC fraternities “mainstream", which says you feel your organizations are “second-stream". There is no such thing as a mainstream fraternity!!!!! A fraternity is a fraternity. But I also recognize that students at non-MSIs (Minority Serving Institutions)…are not considering ALL fraternities when they are speaking about the “problems" of Greek Life. I recently did a debate about the relevance of Greek Life and when I asked did my opponent take in consideration non-IFC fraternities, he had no idea what I was talking about. There has to be a shift in conversation. The solution is simple…Community. There are more fraternities on campus than the ones in the news. We have to help students realize their power and what it means to be in a community.

I am looking around the country for solutions and recognized that those answers wouldn’t come from us as professionals…but it’s actually among students and the community. Once Greek communities recognize that there is a problem, then it will be fixed. Many people are thinking they can police and legislate themselves out of this Greek dilemma, but they cant. Students will find a way to binge drink; assault, party, and haze, no matter how fancy the policy, how draconian the law. You must have community buy in.

I want to empower students to be ok with not accepting certain behaviors in their communities. We are your advisors. We can’t fix your community if you don’t see anything wrong with it. If there is a division and you as a community feel there is something wrong with that…they address it and lead the community down the path. I still believe in Greek Life and LOVE it dearly; I just want our students nationally to love it enough to realize they have the answers they are looking for…standing right next to them.