As the new Freshman Freeze policy enters its second week, Greek leaders remain hopeful that the shortened time frame will continue to have a positive impact on new students and the Northwestern community.
Ever since the system was implemented at NU about 20 years ago, the freeze has banned freshmen from stepping foot in any Greek chapter for four weeks.
That structure changed this fall when the Freeze was shortened to three weeks, from Sept. 14 to Oct. 4. So far, with more than one week of the freeze completed, members of the Greek community said they hope to have the freeze period shortened even more in the future.
In the present setup, freshmen are prohibited from entering or being on the premises of Interfraternity and Panhellenic chapters. The Greek chapters are also not allowed to hold philanthropic and educational events during this time.
When Interfraternity Council President Lucas Artaiz met with the fraternity presidents September 14, he explained the importance of the changed policy, especially with a new university president at NU.
“We have a great opportunity to build a relationship with an administration that appears is heading in a direction with more of an emphasis on undergraduate life, and we really want the relationship between the administration and the Greek community to be positive,” the SESP senior said.
After the first week, Artaiz said the fraternities have so far complied with Freshman Freeze policy as he had hoped.
“I think our community stepped up and exceeded a lot of people’s expectations of what it means to give a first impression to the freshmen and to a new head of the administration,” he said.
Taylor Hartstein, a peer advisor, said his freshman students were curious as to the details of Freshman Freeze during Wildcat Welcome.
“I did tell them that it has been shortened so I guess they appreciated that, but they don’t understand why,” the SESP sophomore said. “They’ve still been going out. People have off-campus parties, which is by no means a frat or sorority house.”
Another peer advisor, Weinberg sophomore Prateek Janardhan, said he understands the policy because it allows freshmen to better experience the entirety of the Northwestern community.
“The frats are doing a pretty decent job of abiding by the rules of Freshman Freeze, especially because it’s been pulled back a week,” he said.
In addition to a shortened time frame, other changes have been made to the Freshman Freeze policy. Dominic Greene, the director of the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life, sent a letter during the summer to all of the fraternity and sorority presidents to keep everyone up to date.
In the past, fraternities and sororities were not allowed to advertise upcoming Greek events until the end of the four weeks, but this year chapters are permitted to begin marketing Sept. 26, one week before the freeze finishes. Greek Councils are also now allowed to advertise during Wildcat Welcome and have been permitted to sponsor a major event during the week as well. The councils, along with the Center for Student Involvement and the Office of Orientation and Parent Programs, co-sponsored Seth Meyers’ Sept. 18 performance for freshmen.
These three changes have provided welcome opportunities for chapters to begin advertising and planning events earlier, Artaiz said.
“Let’s say a chapter wants to have an event Monday night right after the freeze,” he said. “They have time to advertise for that now. That’s a positive change.”
The updated Freshman Freeze policy will last for three years before being re-evaluated by Vice President of Student Affairs William Banis. Artaiz said he hopes the time period will be shortened again before the three years have elapsed.
“As in any time of transition a lot is apt to change,” he said. “If we were to screw up there is no reason to expect they wouldn’t change it back to the old policy. But if we do as well if not better than we’ve done thus far, there’s no reason to expect that those changes won’t be made sooner, given that it’s impacting our community in a positive way.”
