Building the Future of FSILGs:
Project Aurora

January 4, 2005

To the MIT Community:

In September, the report of the Task Force on Fraternities, Sororities, and Independent Living Groups was released to the MIT community, with a request for reactions and comments. (These comments have been summarized by Task Force co-chair Professor Patrick Winston ’65 in the “Community Comment” section this site.)

We are grateful for the many thoughtful responses from across the spectrum of FSILG stakeholders, and are gratified by the broad support for the Task Force recommendations, as well as the interest in working to ensure a strong FSILG community as a critical part of MIT’s residential system.

The work of the Task Force is now complete, and we are moving into the implementation stage. Our new president, Susan Hockfield, has expressed her enthusiasm for the recommendations and her confidence that working together, we will indeed achieve our goals. Already, substantial progress has been made on many of the tasks. Here is a sampling:

  • Task Force Co-Chair and long-time FSILG supporter Steve Immerman has been assigned overall responsibility for implementation of the report’s recommendations and for overseeing the FSILG staff.
  • The Independent Residence Development Fund (IRDF) has been expanded to include a new Educational Operating Grant program. Grant money is now available for all FSILGs to help support operating expenses related to house education activities. See http://web.mit.edu/irdf/ for more details.
  • A reenergized Association of Independent Living Groups, under the leadership of Dan Geer ’72 and Susan Woodmansee ’97, has been tackling a number of priority items.
  • Last year, a very successful purchasing group, the FSILG Cooperative, Inc. was established and now work is proceeding on an alumni-led chapter accreditation process.
  • Students have taken the leadership roles in improving recruiting and risk management processes. The IFC is sponsoring a spring rush this year, to complement the main sorority rush of the Panhellenic Association.
  • Steve Immerman and Bob Ferrara ’67, Director of FSILG Alumni Relations, are actively engaged in fundraising for FSILG initiatives, including those that support leadership and training. They are also working with our Information Services and Technology department on high-speed fiber optic links to all off-campus chapters.

Steve Immerman will provide the next update on our progress to the MIT community in early June 2005.

All of us take this work very seriously. Our goal is nothing less than to make our FSILG system a vibrant part of the best undergraduate residence system in the nation. I look forward to our working together to make all of the recommendations of the Task Force come to life, and to celebrating the talents that each of us brings to the effort.

Sincerely,

Phillip L. Clay
Chancellor