The writer, junior Chris Stillwell, is a Student Association senator from the Elliott School of International Affairs and a member of the Kappa Alpha fraternity.
New housing regulations proposed by the GW administration – which mandates Greek students and others living off campus to register their addresses, and establishes a system for neighbors to file complaints against students – can be summed up in one word: appalling.
Students already received shocking news last month when the administration announced that it would be mandatory for students to live on campus through their junior year, starting with the class of 2018. And these new regulations, which discriminate against the Greek community, only add to the frustration.
The proposed rules state that members of the Greek community will be the first students required to register their off campus addresses this fall, with other student organizations following in the spring. Members will also attend off-campus orientation meetings on proper drinking practices, but this is redundant since Greek life students are already required to partake in Responsible Alcohol Manager, or RAM, training that cover that information.
I would be remiss to say that off campus Greek students do not occasionally disturb local residents. However, registering addresses and using the University Police Department to crack down on off campus housing should be outside the purview of the campus police.
Having students register their addresses with GW violates students’ personal privacy. It appears that the only reason the administration wants off-campus students to register their addresses is so that local residents can file complaints against students and so the GW administration can identify which students to discipline or fine. And while I understand the administration wants to be proactive and improve relations with local residents, discriminating against specific group of students and violating their privacy is not the answer.
To make matters worse, the administration announced it will put a registration hold on students who fail to attend off-campus orientation meetings. This is a form of coercion and impresses unneeded stress on students.
GW is heading in the wrong direction in addressing off-campus issues. The administration has to start prioritizing students again. A better policy for the University would be to partner with Greek leaders who are, after all, tuition-paying students, and have discussions on how to promote responsible behavior.
If administrators want to engage in conversation with Greek Life students, they should work with students while developing the policy, not suddenly announce policy changes and expect students to willingly jump onboard.
