ÂPlain and simple, diversity is an integral aspect of progressivism and the need to grow and expand. Currently, Baker University is making great strides at further integrating this campus.
For the past several years, historically black fraternities and sororities have been trying to create a niche in Baker’s greek system. The most recent historically black fraternity that may be coming to Baker is the Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity.
The intent of this editorial is not to agree or disagree with this fraternity coming to Baker, but only to highlight certain criteria that this fraternity should abide by.
First, for some time, Baker has always had four fraternities and four sororities, creating something of an equilibrium in the school’s greek life. As such, each greek house partners with another several times throughout the year for philanthropy events and homecoming activities. Any new greek house should acknowledge that fact and create an alternative solution to remedy the potential uneven number of greek houses on campus.
As myopic as this may sound, tradition is strongly held by members of Baker’s greek community. Combating this mentality could prove to be very difficult. By coming up with a proactive solution, the new fraternity could easily defeat this mentality.
Perhaps most importantly, the new fraternity must have not just student support, but also support of the entire Baker University community. It is pretty obvious what will happen if the group does not garner support. The group can achieve that by coming up with popular and proactive ideas in which it can help the Baker community.
The fraternity also should host several social events which incorporate the entirety of the Baker community. By doing this, the campus community will appreciate and support the group.
Continuing, the fraternity should openly welcome questions from existing greek houses. By having the informational forum, the fraternity is making some great strides in the right direction. However, if the fraternity does come to fruition at Baker, it should host another forum expressing its suggestions for greek improvement and how it will fit into the grand scheme of things. This forum should also consist of a question and answer session.
Finally, the fraternity must engage in a rigorous initial recruitment in order for it to succeed. So many times, new organizations on campus fall by the wayside due to the fact that they just do not have the membership. For the next 10 years, the fraternity will be experiencing staunch growing pains — the fraternity must never become complacent and should always be attempting to get new members.
In all, the road for a new greek organization will not be easy. It will face many obstacles and initial challenges. However, if these several criteria are acknowledged and followed, the fraternity may come into fruition and live a successful life.
