
The University of New Mexico
NEWS RELEASE
Media Contact: Susan McKinsey, 277-1989
(cell) 362-5530
mckinsey@unm.edu
August 24, 2007
University of New Mexico President David J. Schmidly has charged a task force to review the conduct of the Greek Life system on the UNM campus in the wake of recent incidents that have led to the emergency suspensions of three campus fraternities.
“Behavior such as that which led to the suspensions cannot and will not be tolerated on this campus,” said Schmidly. “I don’t want the entire Greek system to be condemned by the actions of a few. I do expect to see a major turnaround in how certain organizations handle themselves if they are to continue to have a home on this campus.”
The task force will be charged with looking into all areas of Greek life, including assessing the value of the system to UNM and the community as a whole. The group will also examine the recent history of incidents involving campus fraternities, disciplinary measures, housing issues and the coordination of community service issues.
“The Greek system espouses the values of service and community,” said Schmidly. “I want to see all of our fraternities and sororities live up to their stated values and put them into practice.”
An evaluation of recent incidents is expected within the month. The long-term recommendations of the task force will be reported by the end of the semester.
UNM Executive Vice President for Administration David W. Harris will chair the task force. Its members include Marian Williams, past president of the National Panhellenic Conference; John Jones, regional officer of Phi Delta Theta; Dahlia Dorman, UNM student regent; Jennifer Wren, Panhellenic Council President; Mac Woods, Interfraternity Council President; Jolonzo Goldtooth, Multicultural Greek Council President; Kevin Stevenson, graduate student; Mario Hernandez, student representative; Joseph Baca, retired NM Supreme Court Justice; Karen Abraham, Associate Vice President for Alumni Relations; Robert Del Campo, Professor, Anderson School of Management; Michael Dougher, Associate Dean, College of Arts and Sciences; Randy Boeglin, Dean of Students; Beverly Kloeppel, Student Health Center Director; Kathy Guimond, UNM Chief of Police; and Jeremy Lafaver, Office of the President.
In tandem with the work of the task force, the Dean of Students is conducting a series of hearings on the conduct charges against the fraternities involved in the recent incidents. It is anticipated that within the next couple of weeks, these hearings will determine ultimate sanctions, if warranted, up to and including the revocation of charter.
The Dean of Students is also conducting code of conduct disciplinary hearings involving individual students.
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