The status of two overall positions within the Interfraternity Council/Panhellenic Dance Marathon may shift, pending discussions among Thon and greek officials.
The Interfraternity Council and Panhellenic Council Associate Vice Presidents (AVP) for Thon/Greek Sing could be removed from the overall committee, though Thon Public Relations Overall Chairman Nate Cecco said any change is still under discussion.
"We don't know that there will be a shift yet," Cecco said. "Any move that is made is of course going to be in the best interest of the greek community and Thon."
The AVP is the only position on the Thon overall committee guaranteed to go to members of the greek community, which started Thon in 1973. The dance marathon was started because it was a time of "anti-Vietnam sentiment and anti-conformity, it was also a low Greek time," according to Thon's Web site.
Alex Middleton is the Interfraternity Council (IFC) AVP overall chairman, and Caihlin Durkin is the Panhellenic Council (PHC) AVP overall chairwoman. Both serve on the 17-person Thon overall committee.
Though Durkin said the two AVP positions could serve on the communications committee, Thon Overall Chairman Mike Hacke would not confirm where the positions would end up should they be removed from the overall committee.
At Tuesday night's Presidents' Council meeting, Hacke and three other overalls, two of which are greek, came to discuss the positions with the IFC. Kelsey Gingrich, IFC president, said the greek councils will work together with Thon to create a committee to decide what to do with the positions.
"There are just so many great ideas and we want to see how much better we can make the positions," he said. "Over the last couple years there hasn't been a clearly defined role for the positions. We just want to use the strengths of the greek community to help other organizations."
The move was not prompted by any particular problem with the current setup, but is being considered as a way to improve the efficiency of the positions, Hacke said.
"We want to make sure our overall committee is best structured to serve Thon," he said. "We always go back to the drawing board."
An example, Hacke said, is the addition of a Merchandise Overall to this year's committee. He said merchandise has always been a large part of Thon and it was necessary to add this position.
"What we are doing right now is we have ongoing discussions with the IFC, PHC and Thon overall committee with ways we can best accommodate communications with all greek organizations," Hacke said.
Durkin said members of sororities she spoke with were surprised by the news, and the interview process for next year's PHC AVPs has been postponed until the current situation is settled.
"My intention would not be to remove, but to improve on the overall committee," Durkin said. "It's just kind of different views right now on what people say would be best for them."
Middleton said he would not comment on the situation at this point in time.
All changes made by Thon are in the best interest of every participating organization, Hacke said.
"That's why we are having discussions right now," he said. "The greek community is an important voice, and we want to hear their voices."
There is no estimated time frame for when the final decision will be made, Cecco said.
"We want it to be as thorough as possible," he said, adding there is plenty of time to work on the situation to ensure that all parties involved are in agreement with the final outcome.
