The Cornell Daily Sun (https://cornellsun.com/tag/interfraternity_council/page/2/)
The Interfraternity Council’s most recent resolution targets “dirty rushing,” or the unpermitted recruitment of first-year students. In the past, most houses did partake in dirty rushing, IFC president Cristian Gonzalez ’20 said.
Cornell’s Interfraternity Council canceled nearly all regulated fraternity events for the rest of the fall semester Friday night, citing safety concerns. The ban — which will run until Jan. 1, 2020 — cited recent events as a catalyst which had made “inherent safety hazards” apparent within the existing Greek life social system.
How do we create institutional change? At a University that has existed since 1865, we fall victim to systemic problems that persisted since long before the conception of Cornell. When evaluating the campus problems we seek solutions for — issues that affect one, many or all Cornellians — the sheer length of the list makes taking action seem overwhelming and unachievable. But what if we take one of the institutional problems we are facing and put forth a conversation and some action items to begin to tackle it? Many organizations on this campus, like Cornell Minds Matter, are champions of this approach and are creating positive institutional change.
Due to a winter storm that struck the greater Tompkins area Saturday night, Cornell University’s Panhellenic Council and Interfraternity Council had to make changes to their recruitment timelines, including pushing recruitment timelines back a week.
The group’s main focus is to establish formal communication among the fraternities and to create a set of standards and best practices for all participating fraternities to follow.
Recruitment for fraternities at Cornell has dwindled over the past seven years — with only around 600 students registered last year. However, the IFC found that this year encompassed one of the most diverse groups of students.
As part of an ongoing effort to increase the safety of open fraternity parties, the Interfraternity Council passed two resolutions at the beginning of the semester that further regulate how fraternities operate their social events. As a result of this legislation, all fraternities can only hire security companies that are licensed and bonded by the State of New York. Furthermore, fraternities must clearly mark the party’s sober monitors.
Executive board elections were held last night for the Interfraternity Council. Four executive positions were up for election, with each fraternity receiving a vote in each election.
Eddie Rooker ’10, a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon, ran unopposed for president. In a highly contested race, Allen Miller ’11, a member of Kappa Delta Rho, beat out five candidates for the position of executive vice president. In another highly contested race, four candidates ran for vice president for judicial, with Philip van der Made ’10, a member of Delta Chi, winning the election.
Eric Blair ’10, a member of Alpha Delta Phi, was elected vice president for recruitment out of two candidates.
For fraternities, rush has unofficially begun. From bar tabs to Thanksgiving dinners, guys are already getting excited for a week known by some as “the best week of freshman year.” Last week, the Interfraternity Council considered the possibility of mandating nights of dry rush — an action that could change rush week’s reputation.