While last week brought setbacks for the Interfraternity Council, IFC Executive Board members are determined to push forward.
On Thursday evening, Wharton senior Christian Lunoe resigned as president of the IFC, leaving then-Executive Vice President and Wharton senior Pete Becker to succeed him, in accordance with IFC policy.
Lunoe resigned following an incident resulting in his arrest for obstruction of justice and disorderly conduct on Princeton University’s campus the Saturday before.
“I must dedicate all of my resources to clearing my name and will no longer be able to effectively administer my duties as President during that time,” Lunoe wrote in his letter of resignation on Thursday.
While IFC leaders say the circumstances surrounding Lunoe’s resignation have caused minor complications, they are confident the outgoing Executive Board will carry on with his agenda.
“I will attempt to pick up where Christian left off on all fronts,” Becker wrote in an e-mail.
“Most importantly,” he wrote, “I want to make this transition as smooth as possible for the sake of the other board members, fraternity presidents, and university at large.”
According to Wharton junior and incoming IFC President Harris Heyer, Becker will lead the IFC through the end of the term in “both hands on and advisory roles.”
“The position has not changed,” he wrote in an e-mail. Becker “will be meeting with our key administrative liaisons regularly, and helping board members round out their individual objectives.”
As of now, Heyer said, the Board has turned its focus to the IFC’s five-year strategic plan.
“We hope that the plan will be all encompassing with regard to identifying areas for both immediate and long term improvement,” he wrote.
According to Heyer, the plan will be drafted over the next few weeks and will be ratified early in the spring semester.
As president, Lunoe advocated for reforms that relax Penn’s alcohol policy for undergraduate events, primarily due to concerns that the current rules fuel binge drinking off campus.
According to Heyer, the IFC is in the process of surveying the Greek community in order to “provide some insight into trends in alcohol consumption at Penn.”
Though Heyer said there have been 637 respondents to the IFC survey thus far, he was unable to “comment too specifically” on patterns within the response, as the survey is currently still in circulation.
