With new Greek adviser come hopes, plans for future

Read the Aug. 30 edition of The Pitt News for a profile of newly appointed Fraternity and… Read the Aug. 30 edition of The Pitt News for a profile of newly appointed Fraternity and Sorority Life Coordinator Chris Meaner.

Recently separated position with great social life and excellent connections is looking for changes, seeks open, enthusiastic coordinator with a sense of commitment.

Pitt administrators never turned to personal ads in their quest for a new fraternity and sorority Greek life coordinator, but they’re hoping for a long, enjoyable relationship with newly appointed coordinator Chris Meaner.

This time last year, Pitt had recently appointed a Greek adviser with experience at Penn State, after searching for almost nine months. The relationship lasted about as long as the search that preceded it, and this time, Pitt has appointed someone from within the University.

Since coming to Pitt in 1997 as an undergraduate student, Meaner has served as president of Pitt Pathfinders, a chapter co-founder of Habitat for Humanity and a brother of Pi Kappa Phi, which he pledged as a sophomore. Meaner received his master’s degree in public administration from Pitt as well, and he has worked as assistant coordinator of PittStart and coordinator for the Freshman Peer Counselor program.

Associate Dean of Student Affairs and Director of Student Life Birney Harrigan said that Meaner’s Greek life experience would help him in his duties as fraternity and sorority life coordinator. She also noted that Meaner had been “actively engaged” as a Pitt student, both in his fraternity and in general service work.

“These experiences have given him a lot of exposure to students and to parents,” Harrigan said, adding that Meaner “fully understands the University culture,” while a coordinator with no past Pitt experience would have to spend time becoming familiar with the environment.

Although Pitt has had a full-time Greek adviser for only about eight of the last 22 months, Harrigan expressed confidence that any problems facing the coordinators in the past will not strongly affect Meaner.

“He is really excited — genuinely excited about this new position and the value that he’ll bring,” she said.

The Greek life coordinator position, just like the person filling it, is somewhat changed from what the Greeks of past years have known. Whereas past Greek advisers have reported directly to Harrigan, Meaner will now report to Assistant to the Dean Michele Scott Taylor, who will, in turn, continue to report to Harrigan.

Taylor, who also serves as Black Action Society adviser, among other things, will not drop any of her additional duties in taking up this one, Harrigan said.

“Her responsibilities have just been expanded,” Harrigan added, saying that Taylor, who was also involved in Greek life during her college years, is “intimately knowledgeable about Greek life, as well.”

Taylor did not return a call for comment.

Explaining the decision to put Taylor into the chain of command, Harrigan said, “We needed to be hands-on, to provide the hands-on supervision” of other Student Life departments.

Harrigan, with the help of Taylor and recently appointed Graduate Student Assistant Kathy Lloyd, filled in the hole left by Triggs’ departure in March. Harrigan’s time as acting Greek adviser has now ended, but she promised to remain actively involved, explaining that she and other administrators in Student Life have a “commitment to the Greek community to help them be all that they can be.”

While her efforts filling the empty Greek life coordinator position added to her already full list of responsibilities, Harrigan said she did not regret taking on the extra duties.

“Because of my commitment to students, I do what is necessary to serve the students well,” she said of her five months as acting Greek adviser.

In taking over the duties, Harrigan explained, she hoped to “make as seamless an operation as possible” throughout the transition.

“When you put the students first, you don’t think of those things,” she said of the additional work that came with the job.

In addition to the change in Greek administration hierarchy, Meaner will also face modifications to the coordinator’s role in Greek judicial proceedings. Last year, in an effort to handle the judicial process “centrally,” administrators began processing major judicial violations as regular offenses, and not within the Greek system, as they once did. Harrigan said the change created a “big culture shock for [students], in that the administration was not going to tolerate inappropriate behavior,” but she added that she thinks, “the message has been sent.”

Under last year’s system, the Greek coordinator served as a hearing officer; this year, the coordinator will not serve as an officer in judicial proceedings and, instead, he will act as an “informational source,” Harrigan said. Meaner will be able to “provide expert advice, should the hearing officers need it,” she explained, adding that his advice will only be provided “as needed,” at the request of the officers.

Ultimately, judicial board recommendations fall under the final decision of Vice Provost of Undergraduate Studies and Dean of Students Jack Daniel. During the spring semester, Daniel ruled against part or all of at least two of the board’s recommendations concerning fraternity violations, making the punishments more severe.

The change to the position, according to Harrigan, prevents a conflict of interest for the Greek adviser, who is expected to act as an advocate for students.

Meaner will also monitor the implementation of the board’s sanctions, and he will distinguish between the serious offenses, which must go before the regular judicial board, and “lesser” cases, such as pledging offenses, which are handled internally by the Greeks.

In terms of housing, Harrigan said she hopes to work on “developing a more interactive relationship and fostering the notion that we are partners in making Greek life the most wonderful experience it can be.” Part of the plan includes informal visits from the Greek adviser to fraternity houses, which might not be scheduled in advance, she said.

“There will be an understanding,” Harrigan said of the relationship between the adviser and the Greeks, in terms of on-campus house visits.

Harrigan also hopes to address the “inability to fill bed space in fraternity housing,” a recent trend that she said has left a significant number of beds empty in the University-owned houses.

Sorority members, housed mostly in Amos Hall, will seek to find a balance between meeting the rules of standard residence halls and satisfying their needs as sororities with non-resident members. Harrigan described “access issues,” and said she hopes Greek leaders will work more closely with the Amos residential director, Jackie Jones.

But regardless of changes, challenges and opportunities, Harrigan expressed optimism about the coming year.

“[The Greek] community does so many wonderful things, and we want to encourage that,” she said, adding that she also wants to encourage respectful behavior.