This year, DePauw's Inter-Fraternity Council has taken the first step toward changing their recruitment process.
In having first year men visit all ten fraternities in one day, IFC hoped to shorten the amount of time fraternity and first-year men would participate in "silence week." In doing so, they are taking baby steps towards mirroring the new recruitment schedule that Panhellenic Council established during the 2013 formal recruitment process.
Though we agree that adjustments needed to be made to IFC's recruitment schedule, this editorial board is unsure what IFC hoped to accomplish by shortening silence week by only one day. A large part of the rationale behind the change in Panhellenic's decision to compress recruitment into one weekend was to minimize possibilities for contact between potential new members and sorority members. With IFC's policy changes as they stand, very little progress has been made in limiting social interaction outside of recruitment.
A one-day shortening of silence week is next to ineffectual. Prospective fraternity men still come into contact with active fraternity men as they continue to see each other during the twelve hours of class that the average student has each week, as well as any time they spend in organized DePauw activities.
Panhellenic's new system for recruitment involves only a four consecutive day period of no-contact, while IFCs constitutes a total of six days.
By shaving only one day off "silence week," it seems as though IFC has stopped halfway. Instead of fully confronting the issue of limiting contact during the span of recruitment, first years and fraternity men are still not separated for an entire class week.
Silence week was adopted in an attempt to give those going Greek a chance to think and reflect on their decisions without input from friends within the Greek system. Having a full class week between segments of recruitment defeats this purpose by continuing to push the two groups together and does not allow first-year men the time away that they may need to make an informed decision.
Other changes IFC has made in their recruitment process seem to be greater improvements. The strict guidelines on pledge quotas for individual chapters ensure that each chapter receives a chance to have a fair proportion of the new member class.
Finally, as an all female editorial board, we can't help but think that it's about time IFC has done something about the rampant misogyny that has taken place in previous years. It is much appreciated.
Editor's Note: Franki Abraham did not participate in the writing of this editorial.