Ohio University Sorority and Fraternity Life undermines student obligations
Holly Sealover, March 2023 for JOUR 4650: Opinion Writing
The Ohio University Sorority and Fraternity Life office should accept work excuses for all mandatory events.
Greek photo provided by Ohio University Sorority and Fraternity Life in celebration of International Badge Day.
The Sorority and Fraternity Life office hosted events for Women’s Empowerment Week and Greek Week, some of which were mandatory for active members of the Greek community. The events included movie screenings, guest speakers and positive affirmations. While those events are certainly good for enrichment, requiring members to miss work to go to them is unnecessary.
Each chapter is required to bring a certain percentage of members to each event, some being as high as 65% of their chapter’s total. If chapters do not meet attendance requirements, they will be fined. Members can be excused if they have class during the time of the event or a medical excuse. Work obligations are not excused.
It is unfair to expect students to request days off work or call off to listen to a guest speaker or watch a movie, regardless of how educational it may be. Some workplaces have very strict attendance policies and too many absences can result in termination. That is especially true for campus jobs which use a strike system, including the dining halls. After three strikes, employees are let go. There are even specific days worth double strikes if they are missed. Additionally, some days cannot be requested off at all.
If a requested day off is honored, it can still result in difficulty for those members. College students can often only work certain hours each week. With classes, homework and extracurricular activities, time is often very limited. For someone who may only be able to work a few days each week, requesting a day off can lead to a significant decrease in pay.
It’s no secret that Greek life is expensive. I know many students who pay their own dues, housing and school tuition. It doesn’t make sense to expect members to pay thousands of dollars per year to be part of the Greek community, and then expect them to miss work. When confronted with this, the director of SFL was dismissive and unwilling to discuss the issue.
As a member of Alpha Omicron Pi at Ohio University, I find this ridiculous. While I do not work a job during the academic year, many of my sisters do. Many members of my chapter pay for their schooling and sorority dues themselves. Our chapter accepts work excuses for all mandatory chapter events, but Sorority and Fraternity Life does not. This doesn’t sit right with me.
The Office of Sorority and Fraternity Life needs to make changes to their current attendance policy. Students should be excused from mandatory Greek events if they need to work. There is no logical reason for members to risk losing their jobs or hurting their paychecks to watch a movie. Not only is this unfair, but it also goes against those fraternal values the Greek community claims to hold so close to their hearts.