The Interfraternity Council, Panhellenic Council and National Pan-Hellenic Council voted to introduce greek identification cards to the greek community beginning next fall.
"The greek IDs are used to identify people as greeks, not necessarily to identify them as not being a greek," said Andy Hackett, Interfraternity Council president.
"The cards are an effort to reduce risk because our members are willing to support each other in our social efforts whereas many, not all, independent students are willing to disregard our houses and chapters," he said.
Hackett said the greek community does a "good job" of educating members on societal issues such as alcohol abuse and sexual assault and this leads to a special bond of trust between greeks.
"The education the greeks provide to their members, that independents rarely get, about avoiding dangerous situations and promoting healthy living environments helps to maintain a safer environment," Hackett said. "We are able to trust each other more than others because we have that education."
National Pan-Hellenic Council President Wole Adegbonmire said he also believes the greek IDs will strengthen greek pride and increase safety at social events.
"In our open parties, each PSU student can be swiped in with their own PSU ID, and any non-PSU person can then be swiped in under the greek ID of whomever they are visiting. Any greek swiping in a non-student is liable for his/her actions," Adegbonmire said. "That way, if anything goes wrong, the police have an account of every person in there."
Panhellenic Council President Krista Eck also said the IDs act as a safeguard for greek events by regulating social functions and upholding the standards set by the chapters.
Besides safety, all of the councils mentioned the benefit of using the IDs to regulate greek-only events.
"When we have functions that are greek-only, a greek ID allows for shorter and faster lines," Adegbonmire said. "In our socials, things have been known to get out of hand and we've had a number of violence problems in the past with unwelcomed guests."
Hackett also said the IFC is looking into asking stores downtown to give discounts for people with a greek ID.
"We want to see that the members of the greek community are rewarded for being greek," Hackett said.
A committee will be put together to decide what information the greek ID will include; however, all IDs will contain photographs, Hackett said. The IDs should be ready for the beginning of next semester.
"It has been said in the past that greek IDs are to make greeks elitist, but the fact of the matter is the IDs make our social functions safer because the bond between greeks is a firm commitment to one another," Hackett said.
