RPI Allow Rush and Recruitment!

This is crazy. Fire Shirley Jackson and bring Greek life back. Until these things happen RPI won't get one more penny from me.

Just why I won't give any money to RPI as long as this constant harassment of students continues. Jackson must be replaced!

I'm saddened by what RPI has become. Soaring tuition, astronomical debt, plunging ratings, curtailment of basic freedoms, destruction of student autonomy - nothing to be proud of here.

Rensselaer needs to publish anonymized, but verifiable, statistics on the incidents they believe they are trying to fix with this. And proof that this solely a Greek issue as opposed to a campus wide issue.

You know that killing the main rush season for a year will kill the fraternities. The skills learned by Greek members during their time at Rensselaer are relevant in today's business world. Graduates need leadership skills, how to work with peers and navigate the challenges that come. Hiding students from the real-world challenges of drinking, drugs, peer pressure, bullying, hazing, etc, does not help them prepare. As parents and community leaders after college, we need those real skills. By shutting down fraternities, you are quitting on them. I'm sure it's difficult, but so is anything worth doing. Punishing the whole system is a sure sign of poor leadership. The real solution is a leader who can create other leaders, not followers.

This makes no sense

I know that I would no have graduated from RPI with out the Greek Community.

This new policy is ridiculous. Punish the select few that violate policies not the houses making positive progress. What about all the positives Greek life brings to Troy, going to be hard to motivate people for community derive and philanthropy if you suck out all the fun. One hand washes the other. This is punishment not teamwork. RPI leadership should strongly reconsider the direction they are taking, especially for a group that is supposed to understand students because they are clearly missing the ball on this one.

A dictatorial administration and a Board of Directors without the courage to stand up to "Her Highness Jackson" HOW UTTERLY SAD

I am far from current on recent issues with the Greek community at RPI. But, I know that Greek life was invaluable to me during my undergraduate career. It seems that the administration wants to punish the entire Greek system for the deficiencies of a few. That is truely the wrong approach. Reward the folks in obedience, and punish/educate the folks in disobedience. Delaying or eliminating rush could ruin the finances of some fraternities, realizing that, as with any other organization, revenues must exceed expenses or failure fast approaches.. Eliminating rush means no pledge class, which could lower the year's revenues by 20-30%. I'll bet that breaks all of the budgets. Please allow rush to take place as scheduled, and deal with the miscreants rather than punishing the entire system.. I've often told folks I would do my RPIexperince all over again with no changes, because it was so good. And, my fraternity was a huge part of that.

'97 and '01. My Greek experience was as meaningful and impactful as my undergraduate and graduate experiences. The lessons I learned are unparalleled.

I find this very disappointing. The greek life system at RPI provided tremendous value to myself and my classmates throughout my 4 years at school. There has to be a better way to address RPI's concerns without suffocating the system.

The creeping tyranny of the non-transparent administration has got to stop.

Singling out fraternities/sororities for problems that are not unique to them is plain wrong. This seemingly arbitrary ban on fall rush might be a means to “cover the university", but it will have a punitive effect on how greek houses conduct business. Everything from scheduling, to maintenance, to meals, to finances is affected. I’m opposed to the change, both in the nature and manner in which is has been imposed.

Suspending rush activities in the fall is a slap at the fraternities and blatant attempt by President Jackson to remove fraternities from the RPI scene.

This is obviously the first step to eliminate the Greek system at RPI, even though they say it's not. Issues like these are a campus wide issue and the fraternities should not be targeted.

While many leaders desire to "do something" to show they are serious about reducing incidents on campus, penalizing the entire Greek system for the actions of a few (some of whom are not members of the Greek community) will not solve the problem. It in fact punishes those Greeks who are making a positive difference. Educating the student body and creating a culture where students watch each others' backs will be more effective in the long run than crippling the Greek system

RPI should be ashamed!!!!

This Petition has certainly been helpful in creating awareness - thank you, whoever organized this! May I ask the following: 1) Would everyone please post the link to this petition on your own social media channels and make everyone possible aware? 2) As recent history (the Hostile Takeover of the Student Union) demonstrates, petitions and the threat of withholding alumni donations does not deter the Evil Empire from it's egregious behavior and actions, Hopefully, we all understand that a more powerful, unified approach be undertaken. To that end, if you are aware of any other organization taking a lead on legal recourse against this action, please make us aware so that our efforts can be focused and effective. 3) Thank you! John Jones, Architecture '91, Fiji Forever

Restricting all Greek Life organizations (and only the Greeks) over events events perpetrated by a few individuals only (not all of whom are even Greeks) is capricious and arbitrary. These actions, if enacted, will negatively influence my willingness to continue providing support to the University.