Council examines fraternity barriers

By KAAVYA BUTANEY the daily northwestern @kaavya_butaney

Content warning: This story contains mentions of alleged sexual assault, drugging and hazing.

After a quarter of formal recruitment, the Interfraternity Council plans to introduce an unnamed diversity and inclusion initiative and a new men’s mental health training program either late Winter or early Spring Quarter.

According to IFC Vice President for Recruitment and Weinberg sophomore Parker Stava, fraternities are often thought of as exclusive.

“I realized there’s a lot of perceived barriers,” Stava said. “Everything from, you know, fraternities are only looking for one demographic, or you know, (they) need financial aid, (they) don’t know if (they) can afford to join a fraternity.”

Stava said he intends to publish a set of resources for fraternity use with MSA and Student Enrichment Services before the end of the academic year. He said he is currently working with the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life to organize and publish the information.

Stava said he began working on the currently unnamed diversity and inclusion initiative last quarter.

He added that he worked with Multicultural Student Affairs Assistant Director Matthew Abtahi to develop questions for fraternities to check for potential barriers to entry, such as only accepting members assigned male at birth. The resources may also include scholarship opportunities to offset the cost of fraternity membership, Abtahi wrote in an email to The Daily.

Abtahi described himself as a consultant to the program, since he met with Stava twice during Fall Quarter.

Stava said all nine fraternities at NU allow all “male identifying students” to be eligible for responsibilities. As a result, many students have to compromise between these time-consuming activities and their sleep.

An adult needs about seven to eight hours of sleep, said Feinberg Prof. Kristen Knutson. However, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one in three American adults do not regularly get enough sleep on a daily basis.

Sleep deprivation is linked to many health issues including short-term problems like mood disorders, and impaired cognitive function and memory, Knutson said. She added that in the long term, sleep deprivation can lead to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and a higher chance of developing diabetes or cancer. The American Heart Association added sleep as a heart disease

» See SLEEP, page 6

Community members aired concerns about Northwestern’s proposed Ryan Field rebuild during a Sunday town hall at the Fleetwood-Jourdain Community Center. The event was hosted by Community Alliance for Better Government, Most Livable City Association, Central Street Neighbors Association and Northwestern University Graduate Workers.

Panelists representing four community organizations — CABG, Most Livable City, NUGW and Fair Share Action Committee of Evanston — said NU has not adequately considered the city’s needs while planning the Ryan Field project. They also answered questions from the town hall’s more than 100 attendees.

The University announced plans to renovate Ryan Field following a $480 million donation from the Patrick and Shirley Ryan Family last September. The changes would downsize seat capacity but add concerts and alcohol sales. For the plan to move forward, City Council would need to approve changes to the stadium’s current zoning uses.

City Council is planning to look for contractors to perform an independent study about Ryan Field’s economic, environmental and living condition impacts after it elected not to use Hunden Strategic Partners’ services. The search comes after some community members expressed doubt about the accuracy of a study from Impact Research showing more than half of Evanston residents support the project.

Each panelist said the University has violated trust with the Evanston community in the past, which informs how the panelists view the rebuild.

Fair Share former co-Chairman David Ellis said NU doesn’t compensate the city for fire department and other emergency services it uses because it doesn’t pay local property taxes. The University, however, does pay an annual $1 million to support the city through the Good Neighbor Fund.

The University has also historically failed to support people of color, according to Kevin Brown (Weinberg ’85), a CABG board member.

For example, Brown said he reached out to University officials in 2015 to discuss resolving structural problems at the Family Focus building on Dewey Avenue, which

» See RYAN FIELD, page 6