Oswego State’s new policy requiring Greek organizations to purchase insurance policies by August 21 has left a number of organizations in limbo. Several organizations must now find a way to fund and implement potentially expensive insurance policies in under four months. The majority of the months will take place while the organizations’ constituents are away from the school for summer break.
SUNY schools discussed changing their rules when it came to insurance policies for Greek Life organizations several years ago. This led to a number of universities across the nation requiring Greek organizations to purchase policies. Oswego State adopted the policy, but chose to grandfather in organizations already recognized.
However, a letter sent to Greek organizations Friday declared any Greek organization without an insurance policy in place will not be able to register for the fall semester, a process every Greek organization is required to do yearly. Several organizations do not have a policy in place, and will have to find one in that time or risk no longer being recognized by the school.
While the policy itself is not in bad faith, a recent lawsuit filed against an Oswego State fraternity showed the possible liability an uninsured Greek organization can be. The school has a need to protect itself in this regard.
The issue is in the implementation. The timeframe given to students to understand and purchase these complex policies is unreasonable, especially given that the announcement timed with finals week and summer.
Even further, members of Oswego State’s Greek Life were not included in any discussion regarding the decision. They were simply emailed a letter four months before needing a certificate of proof for the insurance. Most of these organizations are now figuring things out on their own. Had the students been given the chance to sit down with administration and been warned this change was coming, a more reasonable timeframe could have been worked out.
Instead, organizations will be scrambling to find the funds for these general liability policies while tackling finals and then during summer break.
National Greek organizations at Oswego State already have coverage with liability policies through their national headquarters, so it is local organizations that are most likely to be hurt by the policy.
The school may have good reason for putting such a policy in place, but there are several appropriate ways to go about notifying those involved. An email to student four weeks before the end of the semester is not one of them.
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Losing the experience of Sorority life would be tragic. As a member of AEX back in the 60’s, it was one of the happiest times of my life. Many of the friendships that were established then, continue to this day. I’m so grateful for that. I sincerely hope a solution can be found to help these organizations survive. Warm regards,
Judy Rymal Beck
Fraternities do create life long friendships, however the actions of SG nearly lead to the death of a student. By requiring insurance policies, Oswego is showing that they realize their negligence. They are quite lucky that the young man involved in this situation did not die on their watch.
Funny, how back in 2013 there was an article about Greek transparency and it was filled with comments, which bashed the editor, calling him/her ignorant. Not even six months later, we have a case where a student nearly dies at the hands of some neanderthal frat and there are almost no Greeks here to give their opinion. Come on, we all know that this hazing exists but Greeks would much rather focus on the ten hours or so of community service that they do each semester. Give me a break. How often are you actually hearing about Greek involvement in comparison to the parties they have five nights a week?
And you know what, the school is mandating this because they need to. Why should the state of New York have to pay because some stupid group nearly killed a kid? They shouldn’t. But, there was no liability insurance policy, so it makes sense, it is just unfortunate that taxpayers are going to have to dig into their pockets because of some a-hole. Rediculous.
Anyway, Greeks, continue to lie to yourselves and the students at Oswego, and the public. Tell us that your sole purpose is to serve and make friendships. And continue to hide the evils that go on in your basements for a month and a half of each semester.
Funny, how back in 2013 there was an article about Greek transparency and it was filled with comments, which bashed the editor, calling him/her ignorant. Not even six months later, we have a case where a student nearly dies at the hands of some neanderthal frat and there are almost no Greeks here to give their opinion. Come on, we all know that this hazing exists but Greeks would much rather focus on the ten hours or so of community service that they do each semester. Give me a break. How often are you actually hearing about Greek involvement in comparison to the parties they have five nights a week?
And you know what, the school is mandating this because they need to. Why should the state of New York have to pay because some stupid group nearly killed a kid? They shouldn’t. But, there was no liability insurance policy, so it makes sense, it is just unfortunate that taxpayers are going to have to dig into their pockets because of some jerk. Rediculous.
Anyway, Greeks, continue to lie to yourselves and the students at Oswego, and the public. Tell us that your sole purpose is to serve and make friendships. And continue to hide the evils that go on in your basements for a month and a half of each semester.
Funny, how back in 2013 there was an article about Greek transparency and it was filled with comments, which bashed the editor, calling him/her ignorant. Not even six months later, we have a case where a student nearly dies at the hands of some neanderthal frat and there are almost no Greeks here to give their opinion. Come on, we all know that this hazing exists but Greeks would much rather focus on the ten hours or so of community service that they do each semester. Give me a break. How often are you actually hearing about Greek involvement in comparison to the parties they have five nights a week?
And you know what, the school is mandating this because they need to. Why should the state of New York have to pay because some stupid group nearly killed a kid? They shouldn’t. But, there was no liability insurance policy, so it makes sense, it is just unfortunate that taxpayers are going to have to dig into their pockets because of some jerk. Rediculous.
Anyway, Greeks, continue to lie to yourselves and the students at Oswego, and the pubilc. Continue to hide the evils that go on in your basements for a month and a half of each semester.
Wow “Ignorant”! That’s a lot of judgemental language and hate! Also, you misspelled ‘Ridiculous’. That, some run-on sentences, and the fact that you don’t cite your sources… I give your post a C+.
Hahaha Aye’ Chuck ya got me ya got me. This still doesn’t take any of the truth away from my post. Gotta love those who use errors in sentence structure and grammatical falacies as the primary basis of their rebuttal. Ha Haha Ha haaa haha haaaa ha.
What I’m trying to say, specifically with my comment about citing sources, is that there IS NO truth to what you’re saying. There certainly is an opinion though! Nobody can debate that! The other comments were intended to illustrate how stupid you sound when you’re consumed by anger and hate.
How is there no truth in what “Ignorant” is saying? Are you implying that fraternity hazing does not exist at Oswego?