Citing a lack of communication as the main problem, most students interviewed by The Dartmouth yesterday said they would like the steering committee's approach to the Social and Residential Life Initiative to be more open.
Summer Coed Fraternity Sorority Council President Jojo Adofo-Mensah '01 said he feels the steering committee keeps its considerations of proposals about the Initiative considerably "secret."
"It makes you wonder," he said. "No one has a clue."
Adofo-Mensah said he hopes the process will become more open as the time for an actual proposal to the Board of Trustees approaches. He said he hopes students will be better informed about the process in the future.
CFSC Summer Vice President Alex Wilson '01 said students would benefit if the steering committee were more open about its discussions, but he does not "want to offer a judgment about the steering committee policy when I don't know their rationale, at least not in its entirety."
Wilson said Dean of the College James Larimore's statement in a discussion at Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity last week, that the steering committee is keeping its discussions closed in order to allow committee members to be as candid and honest about their views as possible, is a "valid point." However, he said that is not enough rationale to keep the process as closed as it has been.
He said the "real problem" is that "not enough information" has been provided about the reason for the lack of openness and how the steering committee's process operates as a whole -- and without that information, he cannot "offer a definite opinion about it."
Wilson said this lack of information has given many students the impression that their opinions, while they may be able to present them to the committee, simply do not matter.
He said it is "hard to motivate people" when they do not know what weight, if any, is given to their views once they have been presented.
Alpha Delta fraternity Summer President Philipp Saumweber '01 also said he wishes the process were more open. Saumweber said he feels the steering committee frequently seems to change its attitude toward the Greek system, or at least seems to project a different attitude on different occasions.
Saumweber said he believes this problem stems mostly from the fact that the decision process is so secretive. Students do not feel that they know where the process is currently going, he said, and they do not know what the next step is likely to be.
"It would help if we knew where we're going from here," he said.
Saumweber also said he feels as if the committee may have already reached a decision.
"I feel as if they've already set their mind on what they want to do about the whole thing," he said.
He added he would have liked to see more students on the committee in addition to the four undergraduate students and the one graduate student participating on it.
Unlike the majority of students interviewed by The Dartmouth, Leslie Russell '01, who is not affiliated with a Greek house, described the committee's activities as a "pretty open process."
She said students are given many opportunities to share their opinions with the committee, which is officially referred to as the Committee on the Student Life Initiative. While students have considerable "power of input," she said, many students do not make use of these opportunities in order to participate actively.
While Russell said she does not believe students have the power to cause any changes in the committee's decisions at the moment, she said she thinks no concrete decisions have been made yet, giving students more of a chance to share their views.
"I feel that students have ample opportunity for input about what should be done," she said.
Andy Louis '00, Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity's president last term and a member of the Residential and Social Life Task Force, said he believes the Committee does want to hear, and in fact values, student input. Louis said his meeting with the committee made him realize that students' opinions on the Initiative would be very different if every student had the opportunity to meet with the committee as well.
Louis said he believes students will have even more chances to share their views with the committee during the Fall and Winter terms, as the process nears a final decision. While students may feel now that their input will not affect the decision's outcome, he said every student should try to contribute input.
Phi Delta Alpha fraternity Summer President Gabe Horwitz '01 said he believes there is a lot of miscommunication between the students, in particular Greek leaders, and the steering committee. Horwitz cited the committee's tours of the Greek houses as an example of this lack of communication.
"I had no idea why they wanted to come," he said.
After hearing various rumors about the purpose of the tours and making extensive preparations for them, Louis said he heard from another source that the steering committee considered the tours as much less important than he and other Greek presidents had thought.
Horwitz said he wishes the committee would communicate more with Greek leaders and with students in general. While students do not have to know everything that is going on, he said many rumors have resulted from the committee's secrecy, and better communication would help to dispel them.
Jennifer Gill '01, a member of Sigma Delta sorority, said although she has not followed the process very carefully, she believes many students were misinformed when the Initiative was first announced. Gill said she believes the information available at that point led to miscommunication between the different parties.
Steve Leschuck '01, a member of Zeta Psi fraternity also said he perceives a lack of communication between students and the committee. He said it would be useful for students to know what issues the committee is discussing, so that the discussion could continue outside of the steering committee.
Leschuck also said less secrecy would also assure students that the input and information they provide will not be misrepresented in the committee's discussions. Like many other students, however, he said he does not believe the process will become more open in the future.
