A September incident at the now vacant Pi Kappa Alpha (Pike) fraternity house that left a student hospitalized and brought national media attention to the UT campus brought action from administrators.
Pike was dismissed from campus.
Additionally, Vice Chancellor for Student Life Timothy Rogers called for the formation of a task force to examine Greek life.
A September press release stated that the purpose of the task force would be “to review Greek life on campus and to make recommendations for improving a personal sense of responsibility among members and enhancing the chapters’ contributions to campus life.”
Two months later, as the primary campus controversy has shifted gears from alleged methods of alcohol consumption to the search for a new football coach, the Greek task force is still in full swing.
Student Government Association vice president and Delta Tau Delta member Terry Nowell is among the five student representatives on the task force. He told The Daily Beacon that Chancellor Jimmy Cheek wants the findings of the committee as soon as possible, but also that he and his colleagues serving on the force have no intentions of rushing to conclusions.
“We’re hoping to finalize some ideas by the end of the semester, and if not by then it’ll be early in next semester,” Nowell said. “We’ll probably have a preliminary report around the end of this semester, if not the full report.”
Although the recommendations of the task force will be disclosed to Rogers and Cheek within the coming weeks, Katie Arnold, the 2012 homecoming queen and president of Alpha Chi Omega, doesn’t think that the full effect of the force will be seen until a few years down the road.
Arnold is the student representative on the Finances and Facility Operations sub-committee, which is one of five groups within the larger task force. Her sorority was the first to move into a house in the new Sorority Village.
“I’m working with a bunch of fraternity alums and they really do listen to me … a lot,” Arnold said. “There are actually a lot of issues that I didn’t realize. It’s more than just what we hear all the time with alcohol and stuff like that. So that’s an interesting thing.
“They have a lot of questions for the students. They have a lot of interest in what we think will or won’t work because we’re students and we go to school with these people and we know what they’re going to adhere to and not.”
The members of the task force could not discuss the specifics of the meetings. But Associate Dean of Students Jeff Cathey said that he thinks the discussions have gone well so far.
“I think it’s a really good energy,” Cathey said. “It’s a really good group of people and a real good energy. People are committed to moving the Greek community in a positive direction and trying to identify the best ways to do that.”
Both Nowell and Arnold agreed that the input of the student representatives has been valued by the alumni, faculty and staff comprising the task force.
“The people that are part of this task force aren’t people that have time to waste and sit around and talk about this kind of stuff,” Arnold said. “The point of it is to get something done, and we will see changes from this task force for sure.”
