The Interfraternity Council voted to establish minimum academic requirements for men seeking membership in a council fraternity.

Men who bid from Feb. 1 onward who have completed 12 or more college credits must have attained at least a 2.5 cumulative college grade point average, and men who have completed fewer than 12 college credits must have attained at least a 3.0 cumulative high school GPA in order to be eligible for fraternity membership.

Steven Otero, the president of the Interfraternity Council, said he wanted to implement academic requirements because men in fraternities need to re-dedicate themselves to the core values that fraternities on campus were built on. In the past, Otero explained, the council was a place for “”reaction,”” meaning the council dealt with issues like rule breaking at parties after the fact. Now, he said this new rule could help the council become more proactive in rule enforcement.

“”I felt if we could cut the problems at the recruitment end, we could solve a lot of these problems,”” Otero said.  

He added that the council has seen a decrease in Honors College pledges, and that these new requirements could show the students that fraternities are just as concerned about grades as they are.  

Men who are currently pledging a fraternity or men who have active status within their fraternity will not be affected by this new rule.  

Fraternity chapters face penalties if they bid below GPA requirements. Each offense costs the chapter $500 or chapter dues for the new member, whichever is greater. For the second offense, the chapter is also banned from participation in any recruitment events for the following semester. Chapters are banned from participation in any recruitment events for the following two semesters after a third offense.

Both the council and affected chapters will verify grades of recruits. All men seeking fraternity membership must register with the Interfraternity Council during Rush.

Otero said that these new requirements would have the biggest effect on men pledging in fall 2011. Numbers from last spring showed that fewer than 15 men would be affected by the requirements out of the almost 200 men who received bids, according to Otero.

Joseph Bendah, the president of Alpha Epsilon Pi, said he pushed for the GPA requirement because grades should reflect the high standards to which greek organizations are supposed to hold their members. He explained that the requirements would help fraternities bid men who are the “”cream of the crop.””

“”Men who want to join fraternities understand why they want to join,”” Otero said. “”This policy will signal to people that fraternities want people to succeed academically just as much as other organizations.””