Montclair State puts restrictions on 'tabling,' 'social probation' for frats and sororities
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on September 06, 2013 at 6:50 AM
It wasn’t quite the double secret probation levied on the Deltas in the film "Animal House," but a series of changes have put a leash on fraternities and sororities at Montclair State University.
First-semester freshmen will no longer be eligible to pledge to a fraternity or sorority, and all pledging was suspended for the fall semester, school officials said. Marching in lines and wearing Greek organization uniforms at work are also no-nos, and fraternities and sororities will no longer be able to engage in "tabling" — taking over tables in the Student Center cafeteria or library by displaying Greek letters — beyond a one-week period next week.
"Social probation," the practice of only acknowledging members of a fraternity or sorority during the initiation process, has also been curtailed, school officials said in a letter dated Wednesday
Karen L. Pennington, Montclair State’s vice president for student development and campus life, said the changes were spurred by "nothing specific, but just a general review of where we were with our Greek system."
Montclair State has 35 fraternities and sororities comprising fewer than 700 students. The school, which has 19,460 students, has no fraternity or sorority houses on campus.
Inclusion — making other students feel comfortable in the environment — is a big theme in the changes.
Tabling and social probation could make other students feel unwelcome, Pennington said.
For instance, she said, tabling caused other students and faculty "to feel intimidated, to feel that the cafeteria was not for them."
The ban on first-semester freshman recruits was an attempt to put the focus on academics for impressionable new students, allowing them to transition from high school to higher education.
"It gives students a chance to settle in and be more familiar with the campus," Pennington said.
Other efforts to protect college freshmen have been made elsewhere in the state and nation.
Last fall, Princeton University barred first-year students from affiliating with Greek organizations during freshman year — an effort to stem underage drinking.
And at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, freshmen, for the fall term, have been prohibited from attending fraternity and sorority events where alcohol is present, according to The Dartmouth college newspaper.
Lauren Gesualdi, a senior from Lacey Township and president of the Delta Phi Epsilon sorority at Montclair State, said she initially felt like "just a face among thousands" and had considered transferring — until she found camaraderie with her sorority sisters.
"It creates that family away from home, which a lot of freshmen are looking for," said Gesualdi, the director of Greek affairs at the school.
Recruitment, she said, "is something we all look forward to and plan all summer for. To hear we couldn’t do that the whole first semester was disappointing."
Still, Gesualdi understood the reasons for some of the changes, and hoped it would refocus fraternities and sororities about their purpose at Montclair State.
While tabling provided a good bonding experience for fraternity and sorority members and a chance to teach recruits the heritage and history of the organizations, she said, "We in the Student Center were not the only people on campus, and there were people who wanted to sit down at the table with a laptop."
"At the end of the day, we’re all here to get an education," she added.
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