The WSU Greek community released a plan Monday for how they will operate starting in the spring 2017 semester, when their moratorium on alcohol and other Greek social events will cease.

This Post-Moratorium Community Action Plan has been developed by both 2016 and 2017 Panhellenic and Interfraternity councils (IFC), along with the input of many campus programs and departments, including Health & Wellness Services.

The moratorium began Nov. 7 as a way to address the growing problem of alcohol-related incidents in the Greek community this semester, according to a memorandum.

According to the plan’s introduction, the IFC and Panhellenic council members determined that the four issues that need to be addressed are mental health, sexual violence, drug and alcohol abuse and serious incidents. The plan proposes to handle these issues through education and the adaptation and practice of risk management policies.

“We have failed to look after our fellow Cougs,” the plan’s introduction states.  “It is a failure that we, as a community, cannot tolerate any longer.”

To address sexual assault and mental health issues, the councils decided the best course of action was through education by comprehensive programming, according to the plan.

According to the plan, the current comprehensive programming requirements for sorority and fraternity members are insufficient in meeting the needs of Greek members. Health & Wellness Services recommended a timeline for fixing this, according to the plan.

One of the requirements for all Greek chapters is to create a statement about their stance on both mental health and sexual violence and how they intend to support ending related issues,  in order to demonstrate their commitment to preventing sexual violence and improving mental health in the community.  These statements will be published on each of the chapters’ respective council’s website, according to the plan. 

Part of the plan enforces mandatory “New Member Experience” workshops that will educate pledges about alcohol, drug and sexual abuse, according to the plan. These workshops will be overseen and led by council officers.

Each member will receive different assignments that will direct them to complete one of the following newly designed preventative sexual, drug and alcoholic abusive events through a presentation, video or article, according to the plan.

Each month there will be a lesson for the chapters and their recruitments, executive and council members on what to do and what not to do when consuming mind-altering substances, according to the plan.

In order to address serious incidents, Greek chapters will be enforcing risk management policies, according to the plan.  For any planned event, there will be a required number of risk monitors to attend based upon the number of attendees at an event.

According to the plan, all Greek chapters must purchase new card reader and card-reading software to ensure that each chapter can follow the Universal Risk Management plan.  The IFC and Panhellenic councils also must buy card-reading software to ensure that this is being followed.

There will be a discussion in April among Health & Wellness Services, the Panhellenic Council and the IFC about how the post-moratorium action plan has worked and how it should be improved for future Greek community members.