GREEK SPECTRUM / EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEETING

Meeting Minutes November 28th, 2011 I. Attendence Name (Last, First) Jones, Geoffrey Barkin, Pauline Goodwine, Chaz Tobin, Chelsea White, Jabari McGuoirk, Elizabeth II.

Position President Vice President Secretary Public Relations Treasurer Member at Large

Required (Y/N) Y Y Y Y Y N

Attendance Present Present Present Present Present Present

Readings of Correspondence A. Letter from Nikki Gallant for Union recognition received. We ll be going before the board on Wednesday November 30th at 6:40 PM. Old Business A. Union club recognition a. Prepping for speaking this Wednesday New Business A. The situation a. Chris Girard misunderstood our goals, he thought we were looking to go something like APO. We are not going after becoming a Greek Chapter, we want to be a Greek member organization b. We can t be recognized by the IFC or PAN B. Who are we similar to? a. NSBE b. Religious Organization c. Minority Organization d. SWE e. Regional Minority Groups

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i. We are the same pretty much 1. This is our interest group people who are involved within Greek Life that care about the issues relating to LGBT 2. You can t have the Pakistani Student Organization without the Pakistani, it s not the same a. We need Greek in the name ii. Do more homework into these and check where funding comes from iii. Still the main goal is recognition 1. Union currently recognizes the Greek organizations on their website C. Funding a. Speak with Cameron McClean about preparation D. Pride Alliance a. Certain exceptions to the rule with RPA i. Membership 1. We don t really need this because we re hoping to have a mainly Ally organization, more anonymous 2. Check with members as to their feelings 3. Still give individuals the choice as to whether they want to be anonymously recognized as a member b. We are different from them i. We are a peer education focus group, RPA is an institute policy change group ii. The two goals serve one another, but they are two ways of addressing it. RPA spoke out at Town Hall Meeting absolutely in line with their strategy. We would nearly never be in that situation with Greek Spectrum. c. Is RPA satisfactory for us? i. There are so many international clubs. Why aren t they just all lumped together as a single international club, they re all international, right? ii. There are so many differences for individuals depending on their backgrounds, and Spectrum is looking to meet the needs of one of those focuses.

iii. On this campus, we have multiple ministry options. We don t have just one chaplain that everyone has to go to if they want to express their faith. E. Stats a. 25.8% of student population is Greek b. For budget, we represent of the student population, and this is a way that we would wish our student activities fee to be used c. 10% of population, 25% of campus is Greek, this would hit around 300 individuals just there. F. Petition a. We ll have questions to answer from the board i. Be prepared to give stats 1. Events, meetings, members, leadership a. Tom Hughsted is a member, Ray Lutzky is a member alumni b. At R&H we had 5 alumni interested in becoming more involved. Interest came from not even an event for it. ii. Speak to longevity 1. AIGC, future year roster b. Read through Union By Laws c. We already are using the Union i. Meeting locations d. Union provides resources that our individual chapters just can t provide i. Access to students ii. Activities fair iii. Online resources e. Benefits from Union Recognition i. We are more like green Greeks than OoO but we are much more organized. We are seeking the structure that OoO has, and we hope that the Union could provide that. ii. Union funded 1. We will not have to triple tax our members (union activity fee, organization fee, and club fee) 2. Barry is IFC Treasurer and Chapter Treasurer

a. How much do Greeks pay into this campus in order to participate in clubs? f. How does RPI community and members benefit from the club? i. Supportive network 1. Coming out as a Greek is totally different than other situations ii. Rensselaer Experience 1. Folks have left RPI because they haven t been comfortable 2. This is an opportunity to ensure that people stay, they feel at home at RPI iii. It s everyone s responsibility to ensure that minorities are welcomed in all parts of campus. We are providing a service that this school is unable to do, by creating a point group that can handle when issues come up and individuals don t know how to handle it. iv. Looking back at Alums 1. At Ray s event, he said that this was something he wished was here when we was at RPI 2. At R&H, founder of the Lambda Organization never saw anything similar to this and never even dreamed that it could be a possibility. v. Out of 187 organizations that the Union recognizes, how many address this issue? 1. RPA slightly vi. We address happiness; RPA is about policy and rules. vii. Greeks still interact with many of the other students on campus, regardless of whether they re interested in becoming members, just visiting as guests, or otherwise. viii. There are so many members that go greek, but can t go and participate in clubs 1. We can hit that group in ways that the Union can t as well. 2. Maybe our 25% percent are involved with 75% of clubs, and we reach out through those to provide better atmospheres all over campus. G. Devil s Advocate

a. Aren t you officers of RPA, and don t you have enough time now as evidenced to devote to this topic? i. We are not a standard officer, 2 out of 6 of us are Greek, and that is not ensured. Past officers have not been Greek. ii. Greek is something that RPA also doesn t necessarily want to address the Greek issue. The Greek issue is something that the active body of RPA is interested in because of the stigma that exists. If RPA focused on Greek, we d lose people. b. Tiered membership i. Example 1. Cub scouts, boy scouts, eagle scouts a. Age oriented though 2. Professors on campus (clinical, tenured, TA) 3. Within the union, we have fully funded groups, non fully funded, fraternities and sororities are identified in different ways within the union, as students we are a part of the Union but it is the board that handles big decisions. ii. Within Pride Organizations, it s a common practice that the organization is infiltrated