Tresurer quits IFC

Former Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity member David Doft resigned from his position as treasurer of the InterFraternity Council last night at their first meeting of the year. Doft tendered his resignation as a protest against several actions taken by various University officials against himself, his fraternity, and the fraternity system in general that he said were unfair. Doft cited the two-year suspension imposed on his fraternity by Vice Provost for University Life Kim Morrison as another one of his complaints. "It greatly disturbs me that Kim Morrison and the University chose to strictly adhere to an agreement forced upon our brotherhood by the University and our alumni," Doft said in a prepared statement that he delivered to the IFC. "It is even more disturbing when the great strides our house has taken are considered." IFC President Jeffrey Blount expressed admiration for Doft's work as treasurer. "Dave did a super job and he will be missed at the IFC," Blount said. Doft cited the Greek system's lack of self-governance as one of his major grievances in his statement. "At other schools, the IFC runs the system," the statement read. "The students here [at an Ivy League school] are supposed to be smarter and more responsible than students at other schools. Yet, we are not allowed to govern our own fraternity system. OFSA [the Office of Fraternity-Sorority Affairs] works in an adversarial way towards our leadership. They govern the system through threats." Blount said he recognized Doft's concerns and also stressed the importance of reforming the system. "I think it is unfortunate that the current system forces the IFC to work from a defensive posture with the University," he said. "Though they call for us to govern ourselves, which we should admittedly be doing a better job of, they do not provide a judicial process that allows us to do so." But Blount said he feels there is still a good chance that the IFC can act as a positive force in bringing about the necessary reforms that he said he believes are necessary. "The system needs to change so that we work more closely with the administration," he said. "I am excited and optimistic that I can work with [Associate Vice Provost for University Life] Larry Moneta on starting progress towards a new system that stresses communication and trust." Doft's statement also mentioned the fact that his house and some of its members won a total of five awards at the Greek Awards Banquet last spring. "I think it is safe to say that last year, PiKA was one of the oustanding fraternities on campus," the statement read.

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