VPUL dismayed about bid night

Vice Provost for University Life Kim Morrisson and some Greek leaders said Thursday that they are disappointed with the behavior of students at the Interfraternity Council's bid signing meeting Monday night. At one point during the meeting, several students in the crowd began hooting and whistling at Tricia Phaup, director of the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs, as she walked to the podium to address the audience. Morrisson said the behavior does not "speak well" for the Greek system at the University and that Greek leaders "need to recognize that and deal with it." Panhellenic Council President Debbie Frank and Bicultural Intergreek Council President Mia Piggee joined Morrisson in criticizing the students' behavior. IFC President Jeffrey Blount, who defended the meeting's overall program, acknowledged that the behavior of "those few members" was "inappropriate and cannot be excused." He also criticized The Daily Pennsylvanian's account of the meeting for "neglecting to mention" parts of the program dealing with issues such as acquaintance rape and drug and alcohol awareness. "Yes, some people did things that were inexcusable," he said Thursday. "But that is exactly why we hold programs like the one on bid night -- so that we can teach and educate the members of the Greek system about different people's views and feelings." Blount said the IFC has the "record to prove" that houses have been heavily involved in awareness programs, adding that he was "100 percent certain" that upperclassmen in the Greek system would not exhibit similar behavior. Despite her criticism, Morrisson said the University would not take any action towards the IFC. "It's an educational process, partly, and the system itself has to respond and take some leadership in that process," she said. "There is leadership within those houses that presumably should be working with [new members]." "I think that an educational process takes time," she added. "I hope it is enough. If it is not, I think that would be a very sad statement and would only add to my disappointment." But Piggee said that those programs may not be enough to prevent a repeat of the bid night behavior, especially because the rushees were not even officially members of the system. And she said that Greek leaders who were present bear some of the responsibility for the behavior because they should have done more to stop the whistling and hooting. "I think that they at least had a responsibility to do something, should at least have stepped in, just out of respect for [Phaup]," she said. Piggee added that there should have been "some kind of sanctions on the bids," possibly even denying bids to the offending students. "Shoot, if you don't have any respect for the system right now, why should I give you the bids?" she said. Frank said yesterday that Panhel "does not condone the sexist attitudes portrayed by many" at the bid meeting. "With many strong, intelligent women in our system, we are prepared to aid individual fraternities in quickly facilitating educational programs, which specifically address sexual harassment," she said. Phaup could not be reached for comment last night.

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