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Fraternity and sorority Standards Program promotes Greek life excellence
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PAGE 3 • THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 2019
Fraternity and sorority Standards Program promotes Greek life excellence
Julia Robbins
Correspondent
The Fraternity and Sorority Standards Program was created in 2004 to create a set of rules and expectations that Greek life organizations must abide by and follow. The main goal of the Standards Program, according to the Fraternity and Sorority Life (FSL) website, is to challenge fraternities and sororities to have a positive impact on their communities.
There are 10 different areas in which the Standards Program sets expectations, called the shared principles. The principles listed are: academic achievement, alumni/graduate chapter engagement, campus leadership and involvement, council involvement, educational and learning, financial stewardship, leadership training, membership development, outreach and civic engagement, and responsibility, health and safety.
Julie Bryant, associate director for FSL, believes that this program is effective because the students helped create and determine where standards were to be set for Greek life organizations.
“It was student-driven to create the program, which I think is important to us because we want to make sure that a program like that is coming from the students,” Bryant said. “They’re saying that we want standards to be in place for organizations and have expectations for organizations on this campus.”
Sarah Choffin is a first-year studying applied nutrition who also is involved in the service sorority Omega Phi Alpha. She said the sorority has made it very clear to her what the expectations are to become a member. She also believes that it is important for fraternities and sororities at NC State to uphold the Standards Program because they should be a positive reflection of the school.
“You’re influencing new-coming students, whether or not positive or negative,” Choffin said. “You want to represent the school in a good light.”
Shelley Brown Dobek is the Director of FSL and has been working with Greek life at NC State for 18 years she said that the Standards Program has been revised four times in order to adapt to university and student changes in fall 2005, 2006, 2011 and 2017.
Brown Dobek also explained that the biggest problem with Greek organizations upholding the Standards Program is filling out the proper forms and failing to document their work.
Both Bryant and Brown Dobek mentioned that there are ways, however, that fraternities and sororities can better keep up with their requirements, including portfolio coaches, the Standards Checklist and the Helper Helper app. Portfolio coaches are staff members within the FSL Department who meet Greek organizations to discuss the work in their portfolio.
The standards checklist is also available on the FSL website that allows organizations to keep track of what they have done throughout the year. The Helper Helper app is another resource where students participating in NC State Greek life have found places to volunteer.
Constantine Boardman Katsoudas, firstyear studying human biology and a member of the fraternity Beta Theta Pi, said that he has found the Helper Helper app to be is a way for him and the fraternity to find service opportunities.
“It has all the opportunities, and it shows the commitments and the times,” Boardman Katsoudas said. “It has the stats on there too, and all of my hours.”
Bryant said that if a sorority or fraternity were to continuously not uphold the Standards’ expectations, there are possible consequences, such as having their approval from NC State’s Fraternity and Sorority Life revoked. However, according to Bryant, that has not been an issue thus far at NC State.
“There is the expectation that they continue to meet that standard, and after multiple years [of not meeting that standard] maybe their eligibility for student recognition, for registration approval through us would be revoked,” Bryant said. “But that is not something we have had to do in the years that we have been having the standards process. No one has not met their standards and lost recognition through the university.”
Bryant said she thinks that Standards Program is also a helpful way for the university to see all of the great accomplishments that fraternities and sororities have made throughout the year.
“I think the [Standards Program] is our rewards program as well,” Bryant said. “It’s a way that we recognize our organizations and want to show what good work they are doing in the community.”
For more information about the Standards Program and Fraternity and Sorority Life at NC State, visit their website.
The Fraternity and Sorority Life office is located in room 5261 at Talley Student Union.
SOLYNNA CROWNSON/TECHNICIAN
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PAGE 4 • THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 2019
Hillsborough Street development anticipates smoother traffic
PHASE TWO FINISHED: WHAT’S NEXT?
With the growth for Hillsborough Street in terms of retail stores, increase of offcampus student housing complexes and the addition of roundabouts, city officials are confident that Hillsborough Street can handle an increase in traffic.
Eric Lamb, transportation planning manager with the Raleigh Department of Transportation, said the Hillsborough Street Renewal Project was the solution to the street’s growing problem of pedestrian safety in the 1990s. Lamb outlined the project and addressed potential concerns that more apartments would create more traffic on the street.
“Back in the late 1990s, Hillsborough Street developed a reputation for being particularly hazardous for pedestrians,” Lamb said. “At one point it had the highest pedestrian crash rate for any major street in North Carolina.”
The goal of the project was to make Hillsborough Street a destination for residents and less of the four-lane thoroughfare that it had become. To do this, Hillsborough Street would have to become pro-pedestrian and reduce the street’s footprint while adding roundabouts to keep traffic moving.
Phases one and two of the renewal project have been completed as of fall 2018. These phases added roundabouts at Pullen Road, Brooks Avenue, Dixie Trail, and the intersection of Rosemary Street and Shepherd Street. The phases also added enhanced sidewalks, raised medians, bike lanes, on-street parking and underground utilities.
Lamb said the two phases were completed at a combined cost of around $30 million.
“One of the things we’ve noticed now that phase two is complete is that traffic moves a lot better through the corridor in general,” Lamb said.
The use of vertical mixed-use development, such as apartments on top of other stores and restaurants, minimizes the traffic impact on the street, according to Lamb. The apartment residents of Hillsborough Street have access to several amenities without need for a car.
However, the improvements do not make Hillsborough Street immune to congestion, Lamb explained.
“It certainly does get congested at certain parts of the day,” Lamb said. “It’s not necessarily a bad thing when you look at what we were aiming to do, which was to im-
prove pedestrian safety and to improve the economic vitality of Hillsborough Street. The crash rate is way, way down from what it used to be. From an economic development standpoint, there has been millions of dollars’ worth of new investment in the corridor.”
Mike Kennon, assistant director for planning and operations at NCSU Transportation, worked for the city of Raleigh during phase one and joined NC State staff
during phase two.
Kennon said that there has been little impact to NC State as a result of the construction.
“There’s now a restriction at Dan Allen and Hillsborough — it’s now a left in and right out — but I really think that has been minimal as far as impact to us,” Kennon said. “It has had minimal impact to Wolfline because we have Founders Drive, which is a parallel transit way.”
Kennon added that the additions have changed the Hillsborough Street environment for the NC State and Raleigh communities.
“I think the road now has more of an urban character and feel, which is appropriate for what’s going on on both sides of the road,” Kennon said.
According to Lamb, future phases look to add a roundabout at Hillsborough Street and Gorman Street, redevelop the road from Hillsborough Street and Gorman Street to Interstate 440, and improve the roads from Oberlin Road to Morgan Street.
With the recent additions and future improvements, Lamb is excited for the future of Hillsborough Street.
“I think we’re seeing Hillsborough Street grow up,” Lamb said. “It’s going to continue to evolve. Everything is trending really positively, and I think everything is moving in the right direction.”
Heavy traffic flows through Hillsborough Street on Monday, March 4, 2019.
SARA TRUDAN/TECHNICIAN
“It’s not necessarily a bad thing when you look at what we were aiming to do, which was to improve pedestrian safety and to improve the economic vitality of Hillsborough Street. The crash rate is way, way down from what it used to be. From an economic development standpoint, there has been millions of dollars’ worth of new investment in the corridor.”
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PAGE 5 • THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 2019
Racial Climate Town Hall: fostering a more inclusive campus
Staff Report
As the 98th Student Government session nears its end, a Racial Climate Town Hall was held to discuss several ways in which Student Government could push to create cultural competency and awareness on campus to facilitate a safe learning environment.
The Diversity Outreach Department of the executive branch of Student Government co-directors Sam Chan, a third-year studying political science and business administration, and Shelsey Hall, a fourth-year studying philosophy and political science, hosted the town hall, where they explained their proposed initiatives to encourage cultural competency on campus.
The three proposed solutions for improving the racial climate on campus are cultural competency training, amending the Student Code of Conduct or Code of Ethics and restructuring the Bias Incident Response Team (BIRT) on campus.
Below are descriptions of the proposed solutions, as presented by Chan and Hall:
Cultural Competency Training
The basic level of this training includes an online summer component. Similar to AlcholEDU, Title IX and hazing modules, this online diversity training would be required for all first-year students to complete before coming to classes in the fall.
The intermediate level includes an in-class spring component, which involves incorporating diversity training into already existing classes, like USC 101 and other collegespecific courses.
The mature level of the training involves an in-person student leader session. Here, students on a student organization e-board will be required to complete a seminar on being an inclusive leader. This type of training will be similar to the financial training that student organization presidents, treasurers and vice presidents have to complete.
If the student e-board does not complete this training, it will impact the organization’s registration and their appropriations process.
Amending the Student Code of Conduct or Code of Ethics
According to the slideshow shown at the town hall, the first amendment of the Student Body Constitution does not currently allow for there to be major changes at a publicly funded university. However, student government wants to change this precedent and foster a better community where students and faculty are accountable for their words and actions.
In order to create this community, Diversity Outreach Department wants to amend the Student Code of Conduct and include specific language that does not allow for hate speech. In addition, they want to incorporate repercussions for hate speech and for other acts of bigotry.
For example, a student will get suspended from the university if they are issued three warnings for underage drinking. The department said their plans were to implement similar repercussions if a student shows inappropriate and or hateful behavior.
Restructure of Bias Incident Response Team (BIRT)
Currently, the mission of BIRT is to address the outcome of bias-related incidents that negatively affect NC State’s community climate. However, Hall and Chan brought up concerns that BIRT may not be visible to the entirety of NC State’s campus as a resource.
Hall and Chan stated that the department’s next steps in this process is to set up follow up meetings with the Division of Academic and Student Affairs, NC State’s provost, the college deans, and diversity coordinators of each college.
During the open comments and discussions portion of the town hall, students brought up concerns about the retention of black students and faculty on campus and how to address faculty or staff that may make a learning environment uncomfortable in regards to diversity for students.
Hall said that through cultural competency trainings and the expansion of BIRT, the hope is that faculty and staff will be held accountable for their actions if concerns were to arise.
In addition, students were concerned about resident advisors and how some may neglect their diversity trainings while giving tours and or settling roommate arguments.
However, the biggest issue presented at the town hall was that many students are not aware of the resources on campus they can report to, if an incident of hate speech or bigotry occurs on campus. Faculty in the audience brought up the importance of talking to and communicating with their colleges’ diversity coordinators, who are equipped to handle those situations. In addition, students can submit reports to BIRT online.
All of the information and topics discussed at the town hall will be relayed to development resources for further planning. Right now, logistics such as how these initiatives will be funded, when they will be implemented and how long they will take are currently unclear, according to Chan and Hall.
AFTER DISCRIMINATORY MESSAGES SPREAD AMONG STUDENTS, STUDENT GOVERNMENT ADDRESSES INSTITUTIONAL PROBLEMS
SWATHI KARTHIK/TECHNICIAN Shelsey Hall, a fourth-year studying philosophy and political science, and Sam Chan, a third-year studying political science and business administration, lead the Racial Climate Town Hall on Wednesday, March 6 at Witherspoon Student Center. NC State Student Government hosted the event and informed attendees of plans to implement proactive strategies like cultural competency training to promote awareness of cultural diversity.
