OpporFratunity

Sorry for the "fratty" title.

Describe in your own words the dilemma -- and the opportunity -- facing the Fraternal movement.

Given this as a prompt, I have had trouble thinking of some particular dilemma that we currently face as a movement. We are faced by difficult choices every day that affect our future as a whole. I can see where there have been great dilemmas in the past that have changed the way things work in Greek life at Ohio State, such as the choices made during the era when the Standards of Excellence were put into place. As I understand it, this requirement came from the top down to improve the quality and reputation of our organizations after a period that was, well, not something that I would have been proud to tell my mom about. It is a shame that we need to have things like the Standards in place, since by the nature of our organizations we should be setting good examples already. I guess sometimes we need that extra motivation of having "requirements" to meet in order to do what we already know we should do.

Anyway, in discussing that, I now have an idea of a dilemma that we face. Some people think that the Standards that we now fulfill should be updated. I have heard arguments either way, but the case for updating them centers around the fact that they were established in the earlier part of this decade, are somewhat low, and do not reflect the community that has grown up in the past few years.

I could support this.

The current Standards were probably a balance of what the enactors wanted to see and what they felt like people would actually do. This might have resulted in less rigorous requirements than originally intended. We could make this era's Standards a stepping stone toward an even more productive and active community. Many chapters are going above and beyond the requirements already and would have no problem with raising the bar. Those who are struggling now would either sink or swim: they would benefit from what would be involved in getting themselves on track to complete everything and consequently become a stronger chapter, or they would fail to meet demands and suffer whatever consequences that might entail.

Is this harsh? Maybe to some. Is it necessary? Not completely. But it is a logical step in the right direction if our aim is to expand our community's reach and reputation. We wouldn't need to make drastic changes but just raise our expectations evenly, more or less, emphasizing certain areas to reflect where we need to improve. If it were handled right, there probably would not be much opposition to these changes. Everyone should be able to see the intentions, and how this would play into our longer-term goals as a Fraternal movement.