The Penn State administration has ignored Greek life on campus for many years.
The Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life is the office that monitors, sets rules, and ranks each Greek organization. OFSL has but four full-time employees to oversee 83 societies. The administrator position has gone vacant for two years. Contrast this with the fact that $4 million was just spent upgrading the football locker rooms and there’s a $120 million athletic facility upgrade plan in place. Plenty of money for athletics; little funding to help guide social life. OFSL has now been tasked with several more rules they cannot enforce, such as only beer/wine at events, limited attendance at those events, and a certified bartender present.
The only thing you have to know regarding how out of touch PSU is with its Greek system is the statement made by Barron several times — that they thought Beta Theta Pi was one of the best fraternities on campus. Barron also makes excuses that since the fraternity houses are off campus, PSU has limited control. Yet Beta has been tossed forever and that house is vacant — seems to me that a lot of control is available.
Penn State has two choices: Either eliminate Greek social organizations or fund OFSL to the level needed to make and enforce rules and provide benefits by staffing 40 people in that office, not four. Don’t make rules you can’t enforce, as that just reinforces your lack of interest in monitoring social life at PSU.
Tim Edkin, Bellefonte
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