The Interfraternity Council wants self-governance, but past experience shows that a self-governing Greek-letter system would be ineffective at best.
With self-governance, the situation would likely arise when a fraternity member would have to discipline a fellow member. Many fraternity members must pledge allegiance to their fraternities. It’s hard enough to get peers to punish each other, but when Greek-letter group members are involved, the issue of loyalty could obstruct justice as well. If one fraternity member punished a member of another fraternity, the potential for revenge would become heightened.
The IFC position of vice president for Judicial Affairs has had a high turnover rate in recent history. And if the main position of student disciplinary power in the Greek-letter system can’t remain stable now, the IFC has no grounds to claim that the entire organization can discipline itself if it gains autonomy in the future.
Examples of disciplinary problems, often alcohol-related, with members of the IFC abound. Many IFC fraternities have consistently faced review from Student Judicial Services. Phi Sigma Kappa, Sigma Chi, Sigma Alpha Epsilon and Pi Kappa Alpha have all recently lost University recognition. Phi Sigma Kappa regained recognition, Sigma Chi is currently attempting to regain recognition, Sigma Alpha Epsilon hasn’t pursued recognition, and Pi Kappa Alpha lost its charter.
These examples and plain common sense prove that it is in the best interest of the IFC to remain under University supervision.