Meeting Story

Greek presidents denied the university administration’s final push for support at a meeting Wednesday.
In efforts to persuade the Pullman City Council vote for the University District, university administrators gained the support of student senators and registered student organizations last week. The Greek chapters remain the last major group in opposition to the proposal.
Dr. Milton Lang and Dr. Michael Tate, senior associate vice president and vice president of the Division of Student Affairs, Equity and Diversity met with Greek chapter presidents to encourage discussion and questions regarding the University District proposal. The University District would give the WSU administration a much stronger presence on College Hill.
“Pullman has big city problems with a small town budget,” Lang said. “If we don’t have that partnership, we can’t do anything.”
At the Pullman City Council meeting Jan. 20, 2009, WSU President Elson S. Floyd tore the original inter-local agreement to represent the revisions Floyd has made after many forums and discussions with the Pullman community. The inter-local agreement is now an “empty box” to be filled by an advisory committee in the next two years. The final vote by city council will take place February 24, 2009.
“A lot of trust has been lost between the university’s administration and the Greek chapter presidents because of the original University District and inter-local agreement proposed by Floyd,” said Panhellenic President Alison Scott. The proposal went to city council early last fall.
Scott said this meeting was a great opportunity to allow chapter presidents to ask questions and get answers straight from the administration.
Paul Dec asked how the administration will attempt to regain trust after their “sneaky” actions.
Tate said in response, “we goofed.” According to Tate, the administration did not anticipate the strong student opposition to the proposed University District and inter-local agreement.
ASWSU President Brandon Scheller said the University District topic had been a “long headache for everyone,” and attempted to persuade the voting chapter presidents. He said there is “no hidden agenda, no power struggle.”
In an interview Nicole Claudon, president of Alpha Omicron Pi, said she thinks “it is ridiculous how scared people are to trust President Floyd.”
The majority of the chapter presidents said they were worried the proposed committee would not be a fair representation of Greek students, and that the “empty box” idea is too vague.
“Because of the forums, talks, we have emptied it,” Tate said.
Lang said the University District would benefit the Greek community. It would “significantly impact the community from a positive perspective,” and if he were a chapter president he would “definitely” vote for it, he said. “It would provide me with an experience that is better,” which is what he said the U-District is all about.
The Resolution in Support of the University District Proposal, presented by the ASWSU Senate reads that they “fully support” the proposal to create a Board of Advisors who will oversee the creation of the University District on College Hill.
The presidents spent nearly an hour discussing their support after the senators and administration left. The final president’s vote was against the district as proposed. The presidents concluded that if the committee was guaranteed a majority of people with Greek affiliation, they would support the proposed U-District.