IFC is raising the GPA requirement for fraternity members
Brotherhood is just a 2.75 or higher away
If you’re looking to join a fraternity, or have already claimed your spot in one, you may want to start hitting the books a little harder.
In an effort to push academics into the minds of frat boys here at UMD, the Interfraternity Council is upping the GPA requirement to a 2.75 for both new and current fraternity members.
The IFC executive board decided to implement the new policy after a landslide 22-1 vote on the matter.
Previously, the IFC only required new members to hold a 2.5 GPA or higher to join a fraternity, but now they’re cracking down.
All potential new fraternity members must have earned at least a 2.75 GPA to receive a bid, and all chapters must maintain an overall GPA higher than the average for all male undergraduate UMD students – which is a 3.0.
If a fraternity’s average is below a 3.0 for two or more consecutive semesters, the chapter will only be permitted to hand out bids to new members with GPAs higher than a 2.75.
The Tab talked to a few fraternity men about their thoughts on the rising GPA standards.
Sophomore and Sigma Nu fraternity brother Jack Faherty
“Fraternities can be a great way to get help in school. Between free tutoring, friends to study with, and advice from upperclassmen, joining Greek life is actually more academically beneficial than it is harmful.”
Senior and Theta Chi fraternity brother Nick Tselentakis
“GPA alone is a very shallow metric from which to evaluate a student’s academic performance. There is a wide scope of difficulty between the different programs offered here. You can’t expect a STEM major and a Communications major to be held to the same GPA requirement. It’s just unfair.”
Sophomore and Phi Delta Theta Fraternity brother Nolan Quinn
“Obviously, the point of raising the GPA requirement is to encourage academic overachievement, which is not a bad thing.”
“But we should have incentive-based programs rather than punishment-based. It would be much more effective.”
The funny thing is, in the spring 2015 semester, members of IFC fraternities averaged a 3.12 GPA, which was higher than that of all male undergraduate students here.
And that’s according to statistics from the University of Maryland Fraternity and Sorority Life Academic Report.
So, were all these changes really necessary?
We’ve got two words for IFC: Fun Suckers.