The greek community brought talks of town-and-gown relations to the fraternity house Wednesday night.
Leaders in the Interfraternity Council (IFC), Panhellenic Council and
student government met with State College Borough officials Wednesday to discuss longstanding issues like excessive drinking and accountability.
The meeting, held at the Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity house at 346 E. Prospect Ave., is the first of a series of meetings to foster communication between student leaders and borough officials. The meeting came at the request of the Lion Fraternity Alumni Association (LFAA), a group for Penn State greek alumni, according to a press release.
IFC President Max Wendkos (senior-marketing and psychology) said the group came up with several good ideas and is ready to create an action plan.
Some of the initiatives discussed included creating an IFC community relations committee, establishing a new strategy for neighborhood policing and creating an Emergency Room unit at the University Health Services that requires completion of a detoxification education program.
One of those initiatives -- the creation of a community relations committee -- is especially significant to Wendkos. When he ran for IFC President last fall, creating a community relations committee to focus on the Highlands district was one of his platforms.
Wendkos said he was also pleased that those in attendance recognized that the issues are not limited to the greek community and that future progress is likely to stem from the meeting.
"The problems we're facing are school-wide," he said. "I believe that all of the parties there were excited at the prospect of a possible solution."
State College Mayor Elizabeth Goreham said she also was pleased with both the attitude of those in attendance and the outcome of the meeting.
"I was hoping we could have an open and frank discussion of the issues," she said. "The outcome greatly exceeded my expectations."
The four core ideas addressed at the meeting were town and gown relations, accountability, community service and alumni relations and mentoring, Goreham said.
"One of the main ideas is to maintain communication and work on it from here," she said. "We didn't really focus on any one issue, just the problems that we all agree need to be addressed."
Damon Sims, Penn State vice president for Student Affairs, expressed similar sentiments in an e-mail Thursday, writing that he felt as though the meeting provided a starting point for change.
"I look forward to continuing these discussions with the various constituencies involved, most importantly our student," he wrote in the e-mail. "No single discussion will resolve the matter, but the sum of many conversations and actions over the span of months, if not years, may produce the outcomes we all seek."
Though no definitive date is set for the next meeting, the group is expected to meet again early next month, according to the press release.
