The Marquette University Interfraternity Council unanimously voted Wednesday night to change the expansion policy for bringing new social fraternities to campus. The new policy proposes changing the vote total necessary to open for expansion from a three-fourths vote to a simple majority.
IFC Vice President of Judicial Affairs Pat Doyle, a senior in the College of Engineering, wrote the policy change in an effort to update the rules made in 1998 and last updated 1999.
“I didn’t like sort of the way it flowed and the way it was organized, so I just decided to change it,” Doyle said. “It’s basically just a reorganization of the old policy.”
Wednesday’s vote was prompted when three students approached IFC with interest in bringing a new fraternity to campus. Jason Kurtyka, a junior in the College of Arts & Sciences; Thomas Schick, a junior in the College of Arts & Sciences; and Matthew Walker, a sophomore in the College of Arts & Sciences; first approached IFC last spring about expansion.
“This is something that we feel very strongly about,” Schick said. “This is something that we are very excited about, not just for what this organization will do to enrich us as gentlemen personally, but the fact that we could have a hand in bringing something to Marquette’s campus that could continually mold strong gentlemen for decades to come, potentially.”
A vote will be held in the next two weeks to decide whether or not to start the expansion process. If the vote passes, an expansion committee will be established to review applications from National Interfraternity Council members who wish to establish a chapter at Marquette. The committee will select three fraternities to present to IFC delegates, who will then vote on whether to allow for the colonization of one of the three fraternities. A two-thirds majority would be needed to establish a colony. Later, a three-fourths majority vote by IFC would be needed for the colony to become a chapter.
There are mixed opinions among the different fraternities on campus. Kappa Sigma, the second largest fraternity on campus according to Marquette’s fall 2012 Greek report, fully supports the idea of expanding Greek Life on campus.
“Our point of view is that it just increases the Greek presence on campus,” said Kappa Sigma President Jack Howard, a senior in the College of Arts & Sciences.
However, Sigma Chi, the largest fraternity according to the 2012 report, does not support inviting a new fraternity to Marquette.
“We find that it is more important to focus on our Greek unity among the current fraternities and sororities on this campus before we add another fraternity,” said Andrew Kreatsoulas Wednesday, the Sigma Chi president and a senior in the College of Education. “However, if the vote does pass tonight, we will welcome the new fraternity to our Marquette Greek community with open arms and help them grow as a chapter.”
Sigma Chi, however, does not have an IFC vote because the university does not currently recognize them, due to violations that occurred last spring.
According to the 2012 report, 713 full time undergraduate students are part of a Greek organization, or about 9.2 percent of the student body, an increase from 7.95 percent in 2011.
