HAVE YOU recently noticed how Clemons Library has been buzzing with intellectual energy on weeknights? Where once upon a time students studied in the solitary confinement of their room, Clemons unanimously has taken over as the ultimate, too-cool-for-school study spot for students at the University. The credit for this marvelous accomplishment goes to the Inter-Fraternity Council for initiating a program of mandatory study halls whose advantages illustrate the need to make it a permanent fixture.
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Before spring rush this year, the IFC passed a resolution that would require fraternity pledges to attend a study session once a week during the semester. While these study sessions met with their share of problems at the beginning, they have been for the most part well received by pledges.
In an interview, IFC President Justin Saunders stated, "We're not forcing people to study, but simply creating an environment that is conducive to it." The boon of the program lies in its emphasis on encouraging good study habits rather than forcing them. Moreover, the program is structured flexibly so as to allow room for changes according to the needs of the students.
For example, the study sessions initially were conducted in the Physics building. After receiving feedback from the pledges that the location was not the best place to get work done, the IFC responded by moving the sessions to Clemons Library. In addition to a better studying environment, Clemons also provides access to computers and the Media Center.
Since then, attendance and enthusiasm for the program has risen steadily and, while the general impact may not be quantitatively determined yet, the program has its benefits.
The most apparent outcome of the program is that it dismantles the myth that fraternal life is detrimental to academics. By taking the initiative to promote scholastics as an integral part of pledge life, the IFC will in the long run change the image that the Greek system is estranged from academia. The IFC has done a noteworthy job in taking active steps to bring scholastics and Greek life together.
The more short-term advantage of implementing study sessions is to allow pledges to escape the rigors of pledge life and focus strictly on school work. This aspect of the program has met its greatest challenge, as some pledges feel that being forced to attend mandatory study halls infringes on their study habits.
While the program does ask for attendance at least once a week, its lack of structural rigidity does not allow for any fines or punishments on the pledges or the fraternities themselves. A percentage of the number of pledges attending simply is sent to fraternity presidents, who have the liberty to make attendance to the sessions a house policy if they so choose. As such, the IFC does not intend to force pledges to make a pilgrimage to Clemons once a week, but rather, to encourage them to set aside some time for anything that needs to be done.
As first-year students often face problems managing their time as they enter college, pledging a fraternity creates time commitments that often makes matters worse. By providing the opportunity for pledges to accomplish work, study halls assist students in budgeting their time. Consequently, study halls are productive in promoting better time management skills, an invaluable asset in college life.
One of the criticisms of the program is that attracting a large number of students to the library creates unnecessary distractions for everyone. Michael Stone, IFC Executive Board member and head of the study hall program, points out that the feedback from the Clemons Library staff in regards to the program has been positive and supportive. "The library is intended to have as many students as possible for the purpose of studying. Our study halls simply are filling the library to near capacity just like during exams, except this is only two hours every weeknight," Stone said. Furthermore, there have not been any incidents of intentional disruptions reported in the library during the study halls.
One pledge, deeply absorbed in his physics book during the later hours of a study session, summed up the broader purpose and intent of the IFC's decision to implement study halls in four simple words: "Studying is good, man." It is indeed.
(Faraz Rana is a Cavalier Dailyviewpoint writer.)
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