Hackney statement relieves frats

After months of uncertainty over the status of their Locust Walk homes, fraternity members said they were relieved yesterday after President Sheldon Hackney promised they will not be relocated in his plans to diversify the Walk. But some women's leaders and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual Alliance members said they are very disappointed with the president's definitive decision to preserve the status of fraternities on campus. On Wednesday, Hackney told the committee to diversify Locust Walk that the administration plans to accomplish that goal "without requiring the relocation of any fraternities" which line the campus' main artery. His statement to the committee was the first reassuring message Hackney has sent to fraternities since he announced plans to diversify Locust Walk in April. Phi Kappa Sigma fraternity president Bart Barre said yesterday that he was not surprised by Hackney's decision to leave fraternities on the Walk, because the groups are a vital part of diversification at the University. "If we're truly going to diversify the Walk, it means encompassing all areas of student life and all areas of the University," the College senior said. "Fraternities and sororities have always been an integral part of the University." Barre added that he thinks the president "sees how the Greek system is changing and addressing important concerns of students." Hackney established the diversity on the Walk task force at last April's University Council meeting, saying the center of campus needs to better reflect the diverse makeup of the student body. Since then, many students have expressed interest in moving to the Walk, sparking some fraternity members' fears that the administration would try to remove them from their homes. Phi Gamma Delta fraternity president Hunter Heaney said last night that he thinks Hackney made the right decision in specifying that fraternities will remain on Locust Walk. "We're happy to see he came out and said that the goals and objectives of the diversity on the Walk committee aren't mutually exclusive with the welfare of the fraternities on Locust Walk," Heaney said. Heaney added that like other students in other organizations on campus, fraternity members also see the need to diversify Locust Walk. But College senior Anne Package, who is active in women's issues on campus, said she was "appalled" by Hackney's statement. "I can't believe that he'd say something so all encompassing, so irrefutable," she said. Package added that "[Hackney's] probably just reacting to backlash from the Greek system." And LGBA co-chairperson Marci Gambarota said yesterday that she is "alarmed" that the president agreed not to relocate the Locust Walk fraternities. "Since the majority of buildings on Locust Walk are fraternity houses, it is inevitable that at some point they will have to be integrated and made more diverse," the College junior said.

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