Staff Editorial: 'Pseudo-Greek' affairs

The InterFraternity Council wants to put all students on notice -- though it more or less admits that no one outside of the Greek system seems to care -- it is determined to put an end to Penn's "pseudo-Greek" organizations, such as Theos and the Owl Society.

Hypocritical as this stance may be -- and hypocritical it is -- it makes a certain level of sense if you are the IFC or its president, Conor Daly. After all, it does stand to reason that if a certain number of students join these "pseudo-Greek" groups, there will be fewer people interested in pledging Greek houses. The rhetoric may be absurd, but Daly's just fighting to stay competitive.

The same cannot be said for the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs, which has now vocally jumped into the fray. OFSA Director Scott Reikofski backs Daly's initiative -- going so far as to send a notice to all incoming freshmen this summer that the unofficial groups are "underground" and "renegade" organizations participating in dangerous activities.

These actions are unacceptable for a wide variety of reasons. OFSA's charge and mission is to improve Greek life on campus and, though its mission statement fails to mention it, to police its member groups. It does not include seeking a ban on organizations that are not a part of OFSA and of which OFSA does not approve.

What's more, Reikofski's bosses in the Office of the Vice Provost for University Life and in the provost's office have refused to call for, or seek, the abolition of the groups. The provost himself went so far as to call such a goal all but impossible.

Reikofski should be working to educate students about the differences between Greek houses and their "pseudo"-counterparts. But actively siding with the IFC while the rest of the administration has remained studiously neutral -- including one of OFSA's own bodies, the Panhellenic Council, which has not publicly supported Daly's initiative -- is irresponsible.

Reikofski would do well to remember OFSA's mission and his own position as a University administrator and focus his efforts internally.

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