IFC president struggles to unify UC Berkeley Greeks and strive toward change

8 November 2008 725 views No Comment

By Amanda Dyer

The president of a student organization that oversees Greek life at UC Berkeley said fraternities are making small steps toward improving themselves, but those steps are coming slowly.

“I’m going to honest. It’s a tough sell,” said Max Schorer, president of the Interfraternity Council. “What you get respect for (now) is pulling girls and drinking.”
Schorer, 20, replaced Mike Marino, who resigned as president in March after several interfraternity officers were caught drinking alcohol during an all-council retreat, according to The Daily Californian.

At the time, Schorer’s ascent marked the third leadership change in less than a year. Now half a year into his term, Schorer said he’s interested in seeing fraternities return to their roots — leadership, scholarship and the making of better men — rather than continuing the shenanigans they’re known for — drinking and partying.

“Let’s just do what we were meant to do,” Schorer said.

But Schorer said in order to improve fraternities, the IFC has to change the way it operates. For too long fraternities have perceived the IFC as the mouthpiece of the university, constantly making demands without listening to the needs of its constituents, he said.
As a result, Schorer said, the council has failed to win the trust of many of its members.
“It was basically a channel for the university to tell (us) what they need from us,” said Cory Smits, 22, a former president of Sigma Alpha Epsilon.

The largest of the four Greek organizations on campus, the Interfraternity Council serves more than 30 fraternities.

Combined, the four Greek councils have approximately 3,000 members, about 12 percent of UC Berkeley’s undergraduate population, according the councils’ Web site.
Chapters also rarely communicate with one another, Schorer said, and that’s something that needs to change before fraternities can make a larger shift in vision.

Marc Crook, 23, president of Sigma Alpha Epsilon, reflected Schorer’s observations about the lack of unity between IFC chapters.
Crook said his housemates would probably never meet anybody beyond their fraternity members and their neighbors.
“If you told me to name 10 fraternities, I’d struggle,” Crook said.
But Crook doesn’t see the absence of dialogue as a drawback. It’s just not a positive.
On the other hand, Dan Fiedler, 20, vice president of Tau Kappa Epsilon, said it’s in fraternities’ interest to converse with each other.
Fiedler cited a proposed measure a few years ago that would have increased police enforcement in the areas near Fraternity Row. He said fraternity members came together to oppose the measure.
“If we’ve got something to say, then we can all say it in the same voice,” Fiedler said.
Getting to know members of other fraternities also capitalizes on why many join fraternities in the first place, said Fiedler: to meet people.
Already, Schorer said, he’s seeing a change in how the IFC represents its chapters.
IFC executives are using the Delegate Council meetings, where chapter representatives gather every two weeks to meet with IFC, to listen to their constituents rather than just talk at them, Schorer said.

The IFC is still working on how to get its chapters to talk among themselves.
Once IFC fraternities master the basics, Schorer hopes Greeks can focus more on their core values.

But just as Schorer doesn’t take all the credit for the changes that have happened so far in the IFC, he’s not going to hold himself solely accountable for its future. He believes moving fraternities forward is going to be a long process and a group effort.
Neither will Grahaeme Hesp, the university’s director of fraternity and sorority life.
Hesp said that Schorer can’t suddenly decide what the hundreds of IFC chapter members are going to do overnight. The change will have to come more slowly, “like an oil tanker turning,” he said.
In the meantime, Schorer said, he’ll make small changes and try to build toward a better future for the IFC.