FAYETTEVILLE — Chancellor John White has approved a list of proposed changes to the fraternity system at the University of Arkansas, UA officials announced Thursday.
Among the most significant of the changes is the move of recruitment week to well after the start of the fall semester and the requirement of freshman fraternity members to live in a campus dormitory.
Recruitment week — or “rush,” as it’s called — was held weeks before the start of the fall semester, which made it difficult for new students to participate.
The changes were suggested by a task force appointed by White in April, after administrators watched the fraternity system lose members for the past several years.
It was composed of fraternity members, administrators, and alumni. Dave Gearhart, vice chancellor for university advancement, led the task force. The task force submitted its recommendations to White on Oct. 11.
The changes were intended to help reverse the declining membership in fraternities. The changes will also apply to sororities; however, sororities are already operating under many of the changes.
There are rarely enough open slots in sororities to accommodate all the interested young women.
In addition to changing the time of rush week, the changes spell out a number of new rules for rush week. They specify the type and amount of contact fraternity members can have with recruits. Consumption of alcohol is forbidden at recruiting events.
Under the changes, freshmen who join fraternities will be required to live in residence halls for their entire freshman year. The UA would consider allowing second-semester freshmen to move into a fraternity house only if the house was not filled to capacity and was having problems paying its bills as a result.
Students who receive chancellor’s scholarships may use their scholarship funds to pay for housing costs at a fraternity house, under the new rules. Those scholarships pay full tuition and room and board.
There are 15 fraternities at the UA. Eleven of them maintain houses where some members live. Four of the groups have been traditionally composed of black students. Eleven have been traditionally composed of white students.
The 2003-2004 school year will serve as a transition period for the changes, officials said. All new recruitment rules will be in effect for the 2004-2005 school year.
The implementation of the new rules will be overseen by a committee directed by Johnetta Cross-Brazzell, vice chancellor for student affairs.
