Several fraternities at Hopkins are moving closer to presenting a formal proposal that they hope will spur University administrators to overturn the revocation of the sophomore housing exemption.
Though there is no formal time table, submission of the proposal to Dean of Student Life Susan Boswell should occur within the next few weeks, according to Greek Life Coordinator Rob Turning.
"We are putting forth a proposal on a process that is pretty much going to have standards for the chapters, individuals seeking exemption and the facilities," Turning said.
"These standards would have to be met before someone could opt out of the housing contract."
Turning said that the focus of the Inter-Fraternity Council has been more on issues that affect the entirety of Greek Life, such as working to schedule events for the spring and prepare for recruitment, while still trying to work on the housing proposal.
"The exemption policy only affects a small segment of the [Greek] population. It's a priority, but really a priority for a small percentage," Turning said.
After spring recruitment the Council will focus on other issues, including formalizing the social "blackout" policy for orientation, Turning said.
The task force spearheading the creation of the proposal to overturn exemption is composed of the Alumni Greek Organization, chapter advisers and chapter presidents.
According to Turning, the proposal must be submitted before the end of the semester before the housing process and lottery starts in the spring.
A task force of fraternity members - including brothers from Alpha Delta Phi (Wawa), Sigma Alpha Epsilon (SAE) and Sigma Phi Epsilon (SigEp) - have been the driving force behind the proposal.
These three fraternities own some of the larger properties around campus, and therefore are more affected without sophomores to serve as residents.
According to Turning, Pi Kappa Alpha (Pike) has not yet been directly involved in the proposal process.
"They appointed a new advisor who is just on board now, so I am not sure if he is up to speed yet," Turning said.When the exemption policy was first overturned, Boswell told The News-Letter that, "as the University has added more housing and upgraded current housing in regards to amenities and security, we can no longer in good conscience justify the Greek exemption as a legitimate alternative to University housing for sophomores."
The proposal will likely include standards for housing in hopes that the University will consider fraternity housing an acceptable alternative.
Turning said that Boswell has not indicated the likelihood that exemptions will be reinstated, but that she is "keeping an open mind" about the proposal.
Boswell could not be reached for comment before press time.
The long-standing exemption policy was first reversed last year. Since then, several of the larger fraternities have expressed concern that the that lack of sophomore student residents would increase rent and force them to sell their properties.
Others have felt that the social and communal aspects of living in fraternity housing were benefits that the loss of exemption revoked.
Fraternities are also often able to offer brothers a cheaper rental rate.
When the policy was first reversed last year, several fraternities were concerned that the lack of sophomore residents would increase rent and possibly force relocation.
As of press time, The News-Letter had not learned of any fraternities currently dealing with difficulties with rent or filling rooms.
