Sorority and Fraternity Life Task Force recommendations

Jayhawks,

For more than a century, sorority and fraternity life at the University of Kansas has been integral to the student experience. That’s why in November 2018 we launched the Sorority and Fraternity Life Task Force to take a fresh look at Greek life and develop recommendations to ensure our sorority and fraternity community continues to benefit individual students and the entire university.

Today, I am pleased to share the task force’s initial recommendations and applaud the task force for its outstanding work to develop these strategies during the past year.

As you’ll see, the task force has developed thoughtful recommendations regarding process, policy and best practices to enhance our sorority and fraternity community. The recommendations take into account differences between the various Greek councils and cover topics such as training, funding, risk management, conduct and accountability. Collectively, these recommendations represent a good starting point and framework for future work.

It should be noted the task force’s primary recommendation for all councils seeks to enhance collaboration and deepen trust among the diverse stakeholders that comprise our Greek community, including students, staff, parents, alumni, local chapters, national governing councils, and neighborhood associations. The truth is, these stakeholders have not always been on the same page, which is largely why we needed to create this task force to begin with. That’s why I am so pleased that, in developing its recommendations this past year, the task force has already rejuvenated a collaborative spirit among these stakeholders and developed strategies that ensure collaboration is embedded in our work moving forward.

I want to specifically recognize Mike Michaelis – a Beta Theta Pi alumnus and loyal Jayhawk – for chairing the task force. Mike has brought passion and expertise to this process, and we look forward to his continued leadership.

As I said when we launched the task force, our goal is to ensure that a strong sorority and fraternity system continues to be a valuable part of the student experience — and the task force’s recommendations are a great first step toward that goal. I look forward to working with the task force and our Greek partners to implement these recommendations in the months and years ahead. Together, we will continue to enhance KU’s proud tradition of sorority and fraternity life.

Respectfully,

Doug

Douglas A. Girod
Chancellor
University of Kansas