IFC Scholarship Program Revised

During fraternity rush it is promoted that men in fraternities statistically fare better overall GPAs than those who choose not to rush. To ensure that houses are maintaing this status quo, IFC's Vice President of Membership Education, Yuwei Le, is revamping the current scholars program.

Currently there are two fraternity houses (Phi Kappa Psi and Phi Kappa Sigma) who are below a 2.5 house-average GPA. This facelift is to ensure that all 17 of OU's fraternity houses meet this 2.5 expectation.

"Guys who are active in their fraternities have a lot to do, but we do better because we are in a house. Most houses have study hours, and require minimum GPAs to stay members," Le said.

With more attention focused on student's grades this year, come fall rush IFC may truly be able to say that everyone of the fraternity houses on campus actively excel in the one area every student at OU is here for: school.

Above: IFC Vice President of Membership Education, Yuwei Le, describes a little of what his position will entail for the coming year.

Suspensions Made Legal by Judicial Board

This week it was announced that IFC's Judicial Board has added a suspension clause to the IFC by-laws. This clause will give more power to IFC's Judicial Board as a general body, over the University's fraternity system as a whole.

The clause will specifically restrict offending houses from participating in rush, intramurals and hosting or participating in social events including, but not limited to: date parties, social mixers, Homecoming, U-Sing, and Scandals.

"I don't like how much control this gives IFC. The way I see it, this could be a door for IFC to become very political," Joe Gerba, electrical engineering junior, said.

Currently, the Judicial Board is still considering adding expulsion proceedings to further establish IFC regulation over individual houses. These measures are being enacted as a means of unifying the fraternal system as a body with IFC at the head, rather than just a random collection of parts.

Above: Owen Hartley, economics and supply chain management junior, explains his concern for the new changes in IFC's judicial control.

Sounds Slides

Changes to Summer Rush Worries Some

This past Wednesday a meeting was held in the Henderson-Tolson Building to determine the future of fraternity rush. This results of this meeting had the potential to change the way fraternity summer rush is done as a whole, and could greatly affect the numbers of guys that sign to each house.

At the top of the agenda for this meeting was to decide whether or not rushees should be allowed to sign bid cards with houses during the summer if they signed up on the IFC rosters prior to June 1.

"Many of the larger and smaller houses were for this decision. However some houses were afraid that early signing could hurt fall rush numbers," IFC Advisor, Kevin Estep said.

To put this change into effect IFC would require 12 out of the 17 fraternity house's rush chairmen to vote in favor of the decision, but in the end this proposition failed.

Additionally, in a meeting held the week prior, a proposition to move fraternity rush up to the first week of school in the fall, and another proposition to begin looking into rushee/house preferences passed, and was confirmed by IFC Congress.

Guests sit, chat and enjoy chile cheese fries at the Alpha Phi sorority house. Thursday, February 26, during their second annual philanthropy, Fries with Phi.

Helping Hearts with Chile Fries

The Alpha Phi sorority celebrated their second annual philanthropy, Fries with Phi Thursday, February 26. The proceeds generated from this event benefitted the Alpha Phi Foundation in partnership with Cardiac Care.

What might seem like a counterintuitive idea - serving greasy french fries in support of cardiac care - has actually proved profitable for the Alpha Phi sorority.

"We were expecting a really big turn out, and we hired a DJ. We haven't totaled up our final profits yet, but I think we had somewhere around 500 people come out," Alpha Phi philanthropy Chair, Amy Keathley said.

Keathley chose not to be recorded, however here is one Fries with Phi guest's opinion:

The IFC Chief Justice has chosen his Associate Justices. Now it is their job to uphold the rules and regulations of IFC.

IFC chooses Associate Justices

Buzz Becker, Christopher Frantze, Ben Graves, Jonathan Nation, Scott Plaster, Eric Smith and Will Webb were recently chosen to be new Associate Justices for the Inter Fraternal Council's Judicial Board. These seven men will assist IFC Chief Justice, Kyle Watson, in all judicial cases regarding the welfare of OU's fraternity houses.

The list of men were chosen from 12 highly qualified applicants by the IFC Executive Board.

"I was thoroughly pleased with not just the number, but also the quality of applicants," Watson said, "This was a very difficult decision for myself and the Executive Board."

Now with their positions, these men will be required to discuss issues facing fraternities as well as interpret the constitution, rules and regulations for clarification to fraternities.