Abstract:
As anyone who has dealt even remotely with a college campus and its culture before knows, Greek organizations and fraternities often do not send off the most positive images and examples to the general public. Due to many highly publicized negative incidents such as alcohol and drug abuse, date and gang rape, racism, and academic underachievement, fraternities have not fostered a strong, positive perception among the public (Tampke, 1990; McCabe, 1996; Goettsch, 1990). Also, the lack of the undergraduate chapter's effort to correct these negative aspects of fraternity life forces many professionals in the area of Student Affairs to question if the fraternity experience is even beneficial to undergraduates anymore (Pascarella, 1996).The national fraternity Sigma Phi Epsilon (SigEp) recognized this fact and was one of the first fraternal organizations to start making changes to combat this problem. With the implementation of the Balanced Man Program (BMP), SigEp hopes to make massive, much needed cuts in the areas of hazing incidents, academically inept chapters, and accidents with risk management (Headquarters Presentation, 1997). Indiana Gamma, the Ball State Chapter of SigEp, is even going one step further. With the creation and implementation of the "manipulated Phi Challenge," which is the actual, working, creative project, the program hopes to address the following problems: lack of community service, lack of campus involvement, conflict management, respect for property, spirituality, racism, sexism, and leadership.Additional concepts, such as hazing, alcohol and drug abuse, and academic integrity are either addressed through other sections of the BMP or through the program as a whole. Through attacking the complex concepts involved within the problems by breaking them down to tangible efforts, the men involved in the challenge will hopefully learn to change their thinking and behavior.
