The Inter-Sorority Council is reviewing its judicial structure this semester, with the goal of making the judicial system more mediation-based rather than trial-based.
Though the ISC currently has a judicial branch, ISC president Stuart Berkeley said, in recent years it has become less active — a problem she attributed to its structure.
“This might be a more approachable and appropriate way to deal with issues affecting sorority women,” Berkeley said of a revised, mediation-based system. “More specifically, we’ll first [attempt] mediation, and if we can’t figure it out, we still have judicial hearings in our bylaws.”
The possibility of making changes to the judicial system has been a topic of discussion within the ISC for quite some time, Berkeley said.
“We have talked since last spring about the judicial system, and then preliminary work was done this summer,” Berkeley said. “We will have a vote from our representatives in the coming weeks, once we have [a] presentation on what we worked on over the course of the summer.”
If the representatives vote in favor of the changes, Berkeley said, the ISC’s judicial structure will be unique.
“Within the national regulations ... it’s mandated that when mediation occurs, it should be by unbiased administrators within the school,” Berkeley said. “We have fought to make sure that we maintain the spirit of self-governance, so our mediators will be students, which is unheard of within sororities nationwide.”
Berkeley said she hopes to have representatives from each sorority within the ISC serve as mediators. In order to determine the best course of action for developing such a program, Berkeley said, the ISC has been working closely with University Mediation Services.
“We have relied on University Mediation Services to [help us] look at documents and try to figure out what we want,” Berkeley said.
UMS coordinator Lauren Catlett said UMS is working with the ISC to develop a training session for sorority members chosen as mediation representatives.
“We haven’t worked out all of the details yet,” Catlett said, “but it will probably be co-run by [UMS] mediators and our community partners.”
Catlett said this collaboration with the ISC falls under the educational aspect of UMS, which also offers educational workshops to other groups and individuals.
“We have our [mediation] structure in place already [so] we can help them build theirs,” Catlett said.
Catlett said mediation is often a good route to take for conflict resolution because it allows students to work through problems without the intimidating possibility of punishment.
“A lot of conflicts deal with miscommunication, and mediation gives people a chance to put their side of the story out there on equal playing fields without the threat of some sort of punishment,” Catlett said. “You can end up with a more appropriate solution to the conflict ... and it empowers the individuals involved.”
ISC mediation training is tentatively planned for November, Berkeley said, adding that she hopes to have the entire program up and running by January.
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