Greek House Conferees Hear Praise

Fraternity and sorority members from California and other Western states heard both praise and warnings Thursday during a daylong conference at Cal State Fullerton.

Praise came from several university officials, including Cal State Fullerton President Jewel Plummer Cobb, a sorority alumna, who said Greek-letter organizations are big assets to college campuses.

Warnings came from other speakers, including Abel Amaya, faculty director of El Centro Chicano at USC. Amaya said fraternities and sororities must be alert to stop any signs of discrimination and racism.

In contrast with Cobb, whose welcoming speech warmly praised Greek-letter organizations, Amaya told the conference that he once advocated abolition of fraternities and sororities. He said he is still concerned about how minorities, including Latinos, are adjusting to campuses, such as USC, with large fraternity-sorority membership.

During group discussions, student delegates to the conference generally denounced discrimination. And one of the faculty advisers to a fraternity pointed out that most national fraternities and sororities removed all religious and ethnic bars to membership during the 1960s.

Some Greek-letter organizations have always been exclusively for blacks, and Cobb told the conference that both she and her father were proud members of such organizations.

“My father was proud to be a member of his fraternity all his life,” she said. “I had a very long and good feeling about sorority living.”

Cobb also praised the Greek-letter organizations at Cal State Fullerton: “We are often described as a commuter campus, but I am always pleased to say the college spirit lives because of fraternities and sororities on this campus.”

The keynote speaker was Jennie Spencer Green, assistant dean for academic affairs for the California State University system. Green told the 80 student delegates and the faculty that she was also a sorority member and that she had positive views about the Greek system.

Green, however, warned the conference that Greeks must continue to be good citizens of the campus communities.

She noted that a news story in a recent issue of the Chronicle of Higher Education reported that Greek-letter organizations across the nation were having an upsurge in behavior problems. “We’ve got to clean up our act,” she said.