Dear Editor,
At a Ministry of Student Life meeting held on March 3rd 2011, a working group was struck to research into the possibility of intergrating Greek Letter Societies into UTM’s campus life.
Greek Letter Societies include Fraternities, Sororities, Academic Honorary Societies, and Professional Societies. These groups have not been recognized by the University of Toronto since 1959, due to a case of racism.
“The Greek Life society has changed a lot in 52 years.” said fourth year student Peter Buczkowski, UTMSU Director and brother of Phi Gamma Delta, one of many fraternities which call Toronto home. “While we admit that we have had bad experiences in the past I think the issue needs to be readdressed.” Peter continued that his fraternity includes people of all walks of life. “My fraternity is more diverse then most clubs on campus. The race, social class, or sexuality of our members has never been an issue of contention”.
The working group was established to research and make recommendations to the board on whether or not UTMSU should pursue recognizing Greek Letter Societies, and if so how to do it separately from Clubs and Academic Societies.
“The goal is not to either allow or disallow Greek Letter Societies,” UTMSU Division III Director Robert Ciszek continues, “but it is to do research. If all it does is start discussions on the issue, then it has done it’s job.” Stereotypes run rampant about what Greek Life means, Buczkowski claims. “The point of the group is to research and see if Greek Life could fit into UTM, in any capacity.”
The working group will be meeting Wednesday at 12 p.m..
Any student is welcome to join.
For more information contact GreeksatUTM@gmail.com
Yours,
Peter Buczkowski
