Greek Life Oversight
Compromise
Following the death of Carson Starkey from acute alcohol poisoning at a hazing event, Cal Poly Cal Poly banned fraternities from recruiting newly arrived students in 2010. As discussed, there was a lobbying push by the North American Interfraternity Conference. This ultimately ended in 2013 with an agreement between Cal Poly’s President and the presidents of Greek life & Keith Humphrey, Vice President for Student Affairs, called the Deferred Recruitment Compromise.
In 2013, Cynthia Lambert and Annmarie Cornejo wrote an article titled “Cal Poly fraternities and sororities getting new oversight” for the Tribune, a local San Luis Obispo newspaper. A link to the Tribune full article can be found here and/or here.
Increased Oversight
The article mentioned that Cal Poly was increasing its oversight of Greek organizations through several new measures, including mandatory party registration, new alcohol policies, participation in alcohol safety, anti-hazing, and sexual assault awareness programs. These changes were a response to a series of alcohol-related incidents over the past eleven years, including the deaths of two students and the suspension or removal of several chapters, which affected Cal Poly’s reputation. When the article was written, approximately 3,000 students, or 16% of the student body, were involved in Greek life at Cal Poly. Today, according to the Cal Poly Greek Life page it’s approximately 20%.
The university collaborated with the Interfraternity Council, Panhellenic, and the United Sorority & Fraternity Councils to implement the policies to improve Greek life and strengthen relations between students and the San Luis Obispo community. Then-Police Chief Steve Gesell supported the changes, believing they would improve community relations. The policies would be gradually introduced over three years, allowing student input.
Reversal
One significant change was the reversal of the deferred rush policy, which previously prevented freshmen from joining fraternities until their second quarter. This policy was implemented after Carson Starkey’s alcohol-related death. A party registration policy was also created to manage events where chapter resources were used, potentially requiring security or student monitors. Despite initial skepticism, the idea was accepted due to its similarity to programs at other universities and the collaboration between the University, the Starkey non-profit foundation Aware, Awake Alive, and Cal Poly Greek Life in developing the new policies. These reforms were expected to shape Greek life at Cal Poly for years to come.
University officials are anticipated to discuss an on-campus Greek row, which could further transform Greek life at Cal Poly.
Greek Responsible Conduct
The policies reflected a shift in Cal Poly’s approach under President Jeff Armstrong, emphasizing students’ academic success and responsible conduct. The Tribune article also mentioned that university officials are anticipated to discuss an on-campus Greek Row, which could further transform Greek life at Cal Poly. These changes followed several severe incidents, including the suspension of Sigma Alpha Epsilon after Starkey’s death, the revocation of Sigma Phi Epsilon’s charter, and Alpha Phi’s suspension due to hazing.
Based on documented behavior by Greek Life at illegal satellite fraternity houses that have multiplied in the residential neighborhoods in recent years, let’s be honest with ourselves as a community: is there really meaningful “oversight” by Cal Poly? Has Cal Poly done anything to mitigate the impact of fraternities on surrounding neighborhoods or have they removed themselves from the situation?
More insight on this subject is found on this website on the tab for the Assembly Bill 524: The Campus-Recognized Sorority and Transparency Act.