Interfraternity Council members have prepared and presented a counter proposal to administrators in response to a recent university decision that would end meal plan exemptions for fraternity members living in residence halls. The leaders of the initiative said they hope to reach a compromise with the administration on the meal plan and other measures in the coming weeks.
IFC President Lucas Artaiz said the council’s counter proposal included a number of elements that would ease the burden of the meal plan change on fraternities. The conversations between fraternity leaders were productive, the SESP junior said.
“In closed door meetings, we made a number of requests – some were denied, some were agreed to and others (delayed),” he said. “We’re moving toward our final compromise.”
Those contacted could not enumerate specific requests made in the counter proposal due to the sensitive nature of the discussions.
On March 3, William Banis, Northwestern’s vice president of student affairs, presented IFC with a proposal that would make university meal plans mandatory for all fraternity members living in residence halls beginning next fall. Currently, fraternity members have the option of dropping their university meal plans for fraternity meal plans after they join.
The administration asked that IFC officers and fraternities discuss the proposal with each other; however, no compromise has yet been finalized. However, the administration has taken a “non-negotiable” line on ending meal plan exemptions, Artaiz said.
The administration has yet to set a minimum meal plan option for students living in university housing, Artaiz said. The special, minimum meal plan Banis initially proposed for fraternity members would cost $2,810 for the year and allow for six meals a week and 750 points each quarter.
However, the proposed meal plan requirements aren’t enough of a compromise for some houses, said Sigma Chi President-elect Wade Askew.
“Right now we offer a five-meal-a-week plan for guys who live in Bobb, Willard or elsewhere,” said Askew, a former Daily staffer. “But if you add that cost to (the) six-meal plan you are paying considerably more… it’s an unfair expectation.”
The new policy has forced many fraternities to reapportion their budgets, Artaiz said.
Artaiz said he has already looked at the budgets for some of the fraternity chapters. The losses in membership dues from fraternity members living in university housing will be “substantial,” amounting in some cases to 30 or 40 percent of their current operating budgets, he said.
The financial burden will be greater for houses that already employ cooks or have fewer members “living in,” said Will Cinelli, IFC’s vice president of risk management.
Some chapters are readjusting their longer-term plans.
“We wanted to hire a cook for next year,” said Phi Delta Theta Treasurer Sandeep Kini, a Weinberg junior. “But now we probably won’t be able to without enough members purchasing full meal plans from the house.”
Artaiz and Cinelli met with Banis and Garth Miller, NU’s director of housing and food services, to discuss concerns over the negative impact the new policy will have on fraternities’ operating budgets.
Banis told the Daily in March that dropped meal plans cost the university from $500,000 to $1,000,000 per year. He cited the inconsistency of meal plan quality between the fraternities, including the varying nutritional quality of the meals, as a reason for getting rid of meal plan exemptions. Banis could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
“Based on our conversation with them, they are adamant that change is going to happen, but they were very accommodating,” Cinelli said. “They are going to go back now and look at their plan again.”
IFC officers declined to comment on the details of the counterproposal until a compromise is reached. Former Zeta Beta Tau President Aaron Jacobowitz, a Weinberg senior; Sigma Alpha Epsilon President Mike Haas, a Medill junior, and Lambda Chi Alpha President Mike Garson, a Weinberg senior, also declined to comment.
Without a finalized plan, fraternities are rearranging their dues with “a lot of flexibility in a short amount of time,” Artaiz said.
“Every president will be involved once we get feedback from the university,” he said. “The university is in the process of coming back to us with compromises in terms of the amount of meals and points. Once we have that in front of us, all the presidents and house corps will have a chance to respond.”
