My friends in the RPI Greek alumni community pointed me to an article in the Albany Times Union which discusses Rensselaer's plans to overhaul aspects of fraternity and sorority house operations including things like:

• "Starting July 1, drinking will be allowed only in the rooms of students who are at least 21 years old, and forbidden in common areas."
• "In ... July 2007, RPI plans to require every fraternity and sorority to hire a house director, and impose changes in the groups' recruiting drives."

The article goes on to say that RPI says it wants "to strengthen fraternities and sororities, not wreck them, and hope de-emphasizing alcohol will help the groups focus on other principles of Greek life, such as academics and public service."

Some members of fraternities and sororities and their alumni brothers and sisters feel that this program was presented to them as a fait accompli which calls into question the terms of a previously-negotiated Relationship Statement between the Rensselaer administration, the Alumni Inter-Greek Council, the Inter-Fraternity Council, and the Panhellenic Council.

There's a lot more information about this meeting and the administration's push for changes being passed back and forth among alumni of the fraternities and sororities. If you are an alumnus of the Greek system, you may want to get back in touch with your alumni leaders for more information.

Update: Rensselaer Vice President of Student Life Eddie Ade Knowles and Acting Vice President of Institute Advancement Terry A. Cerveny wrote an open letter to Rensselaer Greek Alumni that discusses the administration's initiatives and the disciplinary actions that precipitated them.

At the time that this article was initially published, we weren't aware of the existence of the letter, otherwise we would have included it.