MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — About a month later than normal, WVU’s fall recruitment for Greek life begins.
“We know from research, the first 5 or 6 weeks of fall semester are really important for getting engaged and used to their new environment,” explained Bill Schafer “We’re pleased that IFC (Interfraternity Council) and Panhel (Panhellenic Association), last spring, agreed to move it back.”
Schafer joined the university in March as the Vice President of Student Life. The month prior, 2 WVU fraternity members, Jordon Parish Hankins and Richard William Schwartz, were charged with hazing in the late November 12 death of Nolan Burch. The freshman died of alcohol poisoning from booze consumed at a Kappa Sigma house party.
The incident sparked university administrators to push for a cultural change on campus.
Greek alumni advisors joined them for roundtable discussions on the next steps of the fraternity and sorority system. There, Schafer learned how fraternities and sororities have begun to change their own admission process.
“I think raising GPA’s, having more education, they will be able to recruit and retain more committed students for their organizations. So, I believe a lot of positives will come out of this,” Schafer said of the cultural change movement.
The Panhellenic Council has added a character reference letter requirement to the recruitment registration process. They are also hosting mandatory workshops for potential members to learn more about what campus and the Greek community have to offer.
An estimated 2,000 students, of WVU’s 30 thousand enrolled, are involved in Greek life.
The group is getting special attention on campus.
“We’ll be naming our first associate dean and director of Greek life after a national search. That’s an important part of this. We’ve changed our student conduct policies for student organizations so those all flow through our central student conduct office now,” noted Schafer.
A police report accusing student Sean Innerst, 19, of sexually assaulting a woman at a Labor Day party at the Phi Sigma Epsilon house would go through that office.
A grand jury will hear the Innerst case in Monongalia County.
According to Schafer, the task is to create educational programs to address serious concerns on campuses.
“We’re all working on these very important societal issues. We have a lot of work to do across the nation as well as at WVU. We’re going to focus on all students, not just one group.”