Letters
COMMENTS BY MICKEY EAST, PDT 1963
After almost 40 years as a university prof and administrator, my major objection to this and other efforts allover the country by university administrations to take over or disband Greek systems is that the universities for decades have been taking advantage of the services Greeks have provided to the University without ever providing them with a proportional amount of resources to do their jobs well or better.
Colgate is a perfect example. The Greek system has provided housing, food services, entertainment, social activities, governance and leadership opportunities, etc to Colgate. In return, the University should have been allocating to the Greek system a per person proportion of the resources equal to that it provides to students living in residence halls to the Greek system. My bet is it has come nowhere close to doing this. I know that is certainly the case at the three universities where I have worked, two private and one state-supported, ie, U of Denver, Univ of Kentucky and now, George Washington University. University support of the Greek system is nowhere near what is provided to the residential life systems of these universities.
The administrations do not provide the resources or guidance or support, and then they stand ready to condemn and close down the Greeks when these 18-21 year olds with minimal guidance and advice and supervision screw up now and then.
It is clearly a case of starving the Greeks and then standing
by to pick up the carcasses when they make mistakes. It now sounds like
Colgate has made a decision to devote considerable resources to the former
Greek system, but only after they have exploited the Greek system for
decades and have invested little or nothing to help make the system better.
Way too little way too late.
The University should NOT be able to get this windfall after such irresponsible behavior. I would dearly like to see the University provide figures that would prove my argument wrong.
Prof Maurice A. East | Tel: (202) 994-0564
Elliott School of International Affairs | FAX: (202) 994-5477
The George Washington University | email: meast@gwu.edu
1957 E Street NW - Suite 501
Washington DC 20052