Black Greek system may be in peril

By way of an incredibly wrongheaded piece of reasoning, Pitt is considering placing a possibly… By way of an incredibly wrongheaded piece of reasoning, Pitt is considering placing a possibly fatal onus on the National Pan-Hellenic Council, the governing body of Pitt’s black Greek system.

At Pitt, student organizations must have 10 members to be recognized by the University. Pitt wants to extend this requirement to the NPHC, mandating that the historically black fraternities and sororities on campus must each have 10 members to keep their recognition by the University. This is a move that would be terrible for black Greeks and the entire Pitt community.

A minimum membership requirement is a fair distinction for the Underwater Basket Weaving Club. It is not a fair distinction for black fraternities and sororities, which have traditionally been exceedingly selective in choosing their membership, and have a much smaller base to draw from.

Forcing black fraternities and sororities to recruit more aggressively — which they have been asked to do — and accept more members will serve only to cheapen the arduous and tradition-heavy process of pledging and membership. Some of Pitt’s oldest organizations are black fraternities.

Birney Harrigan, associate dean of Student Affairs, says that the move is, among other things, motivated by a desire to make the fraternities and sororities more “vibrant” and “effective.” She says that increasing their numbers will make them more effective, and can contribute to black retention and graduation rates.

But this is faulty logic. Threatening small organizations won’t make them more vibrant; it will make them nonexistent. Given Pitt’s dismal race-relations record, eliminating black fraternities and sororities is an even worse idea.

Public relations and lowered standards aside, it is completely unrealistic to place the burden of recruitment on individual campus chapters — in the NPHC, membership decisions are made at the national level. Therefore, if a given fraternity or sorority chapter in California is having a problem and the national chapter decides to put a temporary moratorium on accepting new members, a chapter at Pitt could lose their recognition.

It isn’t up to the University to put strictures on the black Greek system. The system is small and private, and has a right to remain so, with minimal intervention. Unilateral action based on one person’s idea of fairness and consistency is not acceptable.