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(09/25/90 9:00am)
When cries of "Take back the Walk" overwhelmed an anti-rape rally last March, no one was more surprised than the fraternity members who had supported and co-sponsored the event. As marchers challenged the fraternity presence on Locust Walk, Greek leaders expressed dismay that the "Take Back the Night" march -- an anti-crime demonstration -- had been transformed into a political event. They and other students became confused three weeks later when President Sheldon Hackney, in a suprise move, endorsed the idea of putting non-Greeks, especially women and minorities, on the fraternity-dominated Walk. "It was completely unforeseen," Interfraternity Council President Bret Kinsella said this month. "It did not come with consultation from the people who are directly involved." But like most major social movements, "diversity on the Walk" did not spring from barren ground. Campus leaders say they had discussed the future of the Walk privately for years, and officials interviewed this month point to History Professor Drew Faust and her University Life Committee, rather than rallies and the Progresive Student Alliance, as the true catalysts of change. Last week President Hackney officially charged a committee to change the residential mix on Locust Walk, but over the past year, he and Faust have discussed the issue several times. By next month he is expected to approve her committee's final report, which will call for non-Greek housing in the residential core of campus. While some students believe that the president buckled under pressure from radical liberals or that the administration has targetted fraternities, such as Psi Upsilon, which was evicted from its Locust Walk house last May, Hackney said last week that his decision came from measured discussion. "I think Drew Faust was the most influential," the president said. "In the process of talking with her, as that committee went along, she began to make me aware of not only the importance of Locust Walk, but also the way it is seen and experienced." And Faust said her inspiration, and the beginning of the recent movement, came from five black freshmen with whom she ate dinner in Hill House in the spring of 1989. Members of the University Life Committee were eating dinner in the dormitory to talk to students about their college experiences. Faust said she expected students to complain about the low number of black faculty members, but was surprised when they mentioned Locust Walk. "They were very happy about their freshman year," Faust said. "[But] they said it was upsetting to come to this campus and see that the center campus space was dominated by white fraternities and the Wharton School, which is also primarily male and primarily white." The history professor said she had never thought about the social importance of Locust Walk, even though physical relationships are important in her academic work. She said when she returned to discuss the Walk with administrators and other faculty members, she found many of them had either been harassed walking by fraternities or wondered why women and minorities were excluded from the prime locations. "Once the issue came up, people said, 'Oh, yeah,' " Faust said. College senior Erica Strohl, a member of the president's "diversity on the Walk" committee, said students considered Locust Walk to be a problem since at least her freshman year. In fact, Assistant to the President William Epstein said a group of female undergraduates talked with Hackney about the issue early last semester. He said the president endorsed the idea last April because "the time seemed ripe." "It was something that was coming up more and more frequently as an issue," Epstein said. "Contrary to what some people believe, it was very much before the Castle [Psi Upsilon] issue." Next month as the "diversity on the Walk" committee begins its year-long study, it will continue to try to answer questions raised by five freshmen 18 months ago.
(09/11/90 9:00am)
The Interfraternity Council is considering major changes in the way fraternities hold parties, including eliminating cover charges and requiring students to bring their own alcohol. The proposed changes would bring University fraternities in line with requirements made by an insurance company that provides coverage to at least 16 campus houses, fraternity officials said last night. The IFC was originally scheduled to vote on the plan next week, but several fraternity officials said last night they expected to meet tonight. But IFC President Bret Kinsella said early this morning that the meeting has not been scheduled. "As of now it [the party policy] is the same as it has been, and it will remain the same until there is an official change," Kinsella said. Kinsella declined to discuss what options his organization is considering. Fraternity officials said they believe the IFC's party policy will be overhauled, but they did not know whether the current proposal will pass. They said there has been some resistance to the "Bring Your Own Beer" proposal, and several said they will try to make a compromise. There has also been discussion of hiring professional bouncers to card students. Students said last night the insurance regulations had been in effect for two years, but the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs decided this year to have fraternities enforce them more strictly. OFSA officials were unavailable for comment last night. Fraternity officials said last night that both they and OFSA are concerned that chapters could be held liable if a student is hurt at a party. They said they hope to lower their risk by not providing alcohol, not charging for admittance, or not being responsible for carding. Over the past year, the fraternity system has tried to increase its control over parties in response to increasing pressure by insurance companies. Last semester, the IFC made all parties "invite-only" and only accessible to University students. The organization also outlawed grain punch at parties, saying it was too dangerous. Under the University's two-year-old alcohol policy, fraternities must file plans with the administration showing how they will keep underage students away from alcohol. Originally, the administration had banned kegs from campus, but that provision was deleted from the final policy.
(09/07/90 9:00am)
Senior Vice President Marna Whittington will appoint a police official within the next two weeks who will replace the University Police director as the top safety officer on campus. The new "police commissioner" will oversee the University Police Department and coordinate security efforts across campus. Over the past year, Whittington has coordinated a massive increase in the size of the University Police Department and the area that it covers. Under the new configuration, Director John Logan will run the department's day-to-day business, but the commissioner will take over Whittington's policy-making role for the department. The commissioner will oversee the police, the victim support department and a group of security guards who Whittington said will be hired this fall. "I am hoping that this person will take over some of the things that I have done," Whittington said. "I look to this person to lead the effort that we outlined in the spring." Whittington said last night all the finalists she interviewed were from outside the University, and she plans to name the commissioner by next week. The search was conducted by a professional recruiting company, and Whittington said that applications came from across the country. Logan declined to comment about the new commissioner position yesterday. The new commissioner will take over a police department that has undergone drastic upheaval in the past year. Since last September, the department has hired 31 officers and now boasts a staff of 75, department spokesperson Sylvia Canada said Wednesday. It has five new patrol cars and plans for a new headquarters at 40th and Walnut streets. Even the department's name has changed from the "Department of Public Safety" to suggest a new, more-professional image. The commissioner will also have to help renegotiate the officers' contract when the current pact expires next summer. Two years ago, a month-long strike split officers from Logan and the University administration after the University refused to make the union contract comparable with Philadelphia Police pay. Canada said that although the officers know that a commissioner will be hired, they have not been told how it will affect them. "I understand there is going to be a lot of reorganizing," Canada said. "They [the officers] have an idea things are happening, but they don't know what." The commissioner will oversee a new department of University security guards who will replace private guard services, Whittington said. Currently, at least four firms patrol campus, and Whittington said the University will begin a pilot program in the animal laboratories, the University Museum and the School of Arts and Sciences. "This would allow us control of who is hired, [including] qualifications and background checks, and it would also give us direct supervision," Whittington said. In the past, the security guard company that covers the residences has come under fire for hiring a guard with a criminal record and having guards fall asleep on the job.
(09/07/90 9:00am)
The University Police Department will move to a new headquarters in a high-rise parking complex now planned for at 40th and Walnut streets if a plan being discussed by administrators is approved. Within the past year, the department has almost doubled its number of officers, and spokesperson Sylvia Canada said Wednesday that the current headquarters, a converted Superblock house, can barely hold the 70-officer force. "We can't renovate any longer in this building," Canada said. "We have nowhere to go. We can't hire another person." Under the current plan, the police headquarters would be on the first floor of a multi-level University parking garage. Canada said the department would not vacate the Locust Walk house until January 1993 at the earliest. Senior Vice President Marna Whittington said yesterday administrators began planning the garage, which would be built on the current site of a parking lot, partially because construction of the campus center will eliminate hundreds of parking spots at 36th Street. The new building may include holding cells, a shooting range, conference rooms and a gymnasium, all items the department cannot fit in its current home, Canada said. The area around 40th and Walnut streets has become infamous because of crimes near the corner. Last weekend two men were killed and two other wounded by gunmen carrying automatic weapons at 40th and Sansom streets. Canada said that putting a police station next to the intersection would be an added bonus. "When you have a police department there, you have a visible presence permanently," Canada said. "That is a deterrent."
