University of Maryland Interfraternity Council raises GPA requirements

The IFC raised the GPA requirement for new and current fraternity members.

The Interfraternity Council raised the GPA requirements for both new and current fraternity members to encourage academic improvement. 

Previously, the IFC’s only grade-related rule required new members to earn a 2.5 or higher, said Matt Henry, the University of Maryland IFC vice president of academic affairs. The new policy ups the requirement to a 2.75 and dictates that chapters must have an overall GPA higher than the average for all male undergraduate students at this university.

This is the first time the IFC will enforce a GPA requirement for overall chapters, Henry said. The IFC executive board voted 22-1 to pass the policy on Nov. 3.

“It is an effort to push academics into the minds of the chapters and help remedy the lower GPAs of some of the chapters,” said Henry, a senior computer science major.

If a chapter does not meet these requirements for one semester, it must provide “a written justification for extending a bid to potential new member,” according to the bylaw. The chapter must also meet with IFC officials to discuss academic plans.

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If the fraternity’s average is below a 3.0 for two or more consecutive semesters, the chapter will only be able to extend bids to new members with a GPA higher than 2.75 until the overall chapter’s GPA reaches 3.0.

The chapter will also need to have 75 percent attendance for academic programming. To ensure turnout is representative of members of all academic years, this is much higher than the usual mandated attendance, Henry said.

Henry, who wrote the bylaw over the summer, said it should help raise chapters’ GPAs while still allowing them to solve problems as they see fit.

IFC Advisor Christine Licata said she approved of the change. She said she expects the new rule to encourage more academics-focused students to join without negatively impacting recruiting.

“It shows that they are taking scholarship seriously and trying to raise academic standards, and I support that,” she said.

For the spring 2015 semester, the average GPA for male students was 3.09, while members of IFC fraternities averaged a 3.12 GPA, according to the University of Maryland Fraternity and Sorority Life Spring 2015 Academic Report.

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Ten of the 25 IFC chapters earned GPAs lower than the all-men’s average, and 17 scored below the undergraduate average of 3.17, according to report. Three fraternities earned averages higher than the total Greek life average of 3.23. The average GPA for new fraternity members was 2.92.

The policy will help the IFC “bring a focus back to academics,” IFC President Paul Becker said. By focusing on new members, the executive board hopes to ensure chapters grow with strong academic foundations.

“We want to get them thinking about their GPA and try to get a sense of why this person is worth joining despite poor academic standing,” said Becker, a senior mechanical engineering major. “We want them to be conscious of their doing and understanding of the metrics that they set.”