Monmouth University made the decision to suspend Greek Life indefinitely on Aug. 20. In an email sent to students on Sept. 6 about the situation, University President Grey Dimenna, Esq., and Vice President of Student Life and Leadership Engagement, Mary Anne Nagy, took notice of Greek Life’s recent troubles including, “hazing, alcohol and drug use, and lack of academic focus.”
Dimenna and Nagy directed the Greek Senate to address their conduct on campus through a written plan to improve Greek Life, but the proposal came up short. These factors contributed to the University’s indefinite suspension of Greek Life.
The University’s decision resulted in mixed emotions among students and The Outlook’s editors.
Most editors thought that the choice was justified. One editor said, “I think the Greek suspension was not only fair but justified. There’s a combination of reasons for the administrators to act. Realistically, I feel no matter what the Greek leadership councils propose, it won’t suffice to expectations. The news of this story does not shock me; I think it should’ve happened sooner.”
Another editor thought the move was justified but thought some components of Greek Life should be reinstated, such as philanthropy. For example, Greek Life has engaged with charities to “raise money and awareness towards their cause,” one editor explained. Efforts like these on behalf of Greek Life has helped to grow the Monmouth community.
One editor said that Greek Life’s suspension will be worse for the University’s safety, saying, “While done as a safety precaution, I think ultimately, this suspension may prove to be more dangerous to students. Realistically, fraternities and sororities will probably continue to exist. Only now, since they are not recognized by the campus, they are existing without any rules whatsoever.”
Whether the University made the right decision, the editors had differing opinions. One editor thought it was the right choice because, “not only did we avoid a potential tragedy down the line, but the University will attempt to change the culture of a flawed system.”
On the other hand, another editor was “not convinced that the suspension will accomplish what the University wants.” The staffer said that, “due to the popularity of Greek Life, I’m sure the groups will be added back to campus soon. This suspension feels like a temporary attempt at fixing safety issues that have been going on for years. Unfortunately, there are many sad and horrific stories attached to Greek Life across the nation, and absolute safety never seems to be achieved. I hope this suspension helps establish a better plan to keep our students safe, but at the moment, I am skeptical.”
Editors also thought the decision could improve or hurt the University’s image. One editor said, “It looks good on President Dimenna and other faculty members that they stood up to the Greek Life organizations, since they were so popular on campus. The organizations did not meet the necessary criteria and were rightfully punished. It could be questionable in the long term if students applying to Monmouth were looking for Greek organizations to join, but hopefully, the organizations will plan to meet Dimmena and Nagy’s requests by then.”
Another editor felt prospective students will look at Monmouth differently for not offering Greek Life. “For high schoolers who think about coming to Monmouth and want to join Greek Life, I think it is a negative impact for enrollment,” a staffer noted.
An editor felt indifferent toward Monmouth’s reputation and said, “I don’t necessarily think that the suspension of Greek Life tarnishes Monmouth’s reputation, but it definitely puts us in the spotlight. We are the first university in the state to pull a stunt like this and that in itself says something.”
The thought of joining Greek Life was also mixed among the editors. One editor’s thoughts on Greek Life were solidified after the suspension: “I’ve never been interested in joining Greek Life; the stereotypes of Greek Life do not fare well with me, and I think that Monmouth’s Greek Life has proven that.”
Contrarily, a different editor thought the suspension wouldn’t matter toward their choice of joining Greek Life. “If I was hypothetically considering joining one, these events wouldn’t have any impact on my decision. If anything, it may actually have a positive impact, since it shows that Monmouth does its best to regulate what happens within Greek Life,” the editor commented.
While one editor didn’t have any interest in joining Greek Life, he/she understood how important it is to students. The staffer said, “I feel that joining Greek Life does have a lot of merit to it. I have some really good friends in [Greek Life] that couldn’t imagine their lives without their [brothers and sisters] and the lessons they learned.”
Some editors affiliated with Greek Life chose not to comment.