UNM will raise its standards for admitting members into fraternities starting next fall.
The Interfraternity Council unanimously approved a measure that will raise admission standards for new fraternity members.
IFC President Mac Woods said 80 percent of new fraternity members must maintain a minimum of a 2.3 GPA.
"If there are 10 new members joining a fraternity, two of those guys can get below a 2.3 GPA," he said.
The measure comes after Kappa Sigma, Phi Delta Theta and Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternities were suspended within one week of each other last fall for incidents ranging from alcohol violations to rape allegations. Kappa Sigma eventually lost its charter in November 2007.
Woods said last year's events do not reflect the morals or values of all members of the organizations.
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"With the recent events of the fraternity community, (the standards are) to emphasize more positive attributes in the members," he said. "It is basically for the fraternity community to be better than it was. The standards that are being implemented are GPA requirements for new members. They never previously existed, but it is to increase the level of academics and the aptitude of the fraternities."
Debbie Morris, director of student activities, said the fall's incidents were a wake-up call for fraternities that forced them to look into the behavior of their members and raise standards.
"I think that is very smart on their behalf," she said. "We want people who represent the University and people who represent themselves well. I think the groups have been looking to find a way to change that so that those behaviors don't occur. In general, we applaud any student organization that is continually raising their standards, no matter what student organization they are."
Steve Barela, the council's recruitment chair, said last semester's events gave UNM fraternities a bad reputation. He said fraternities are often seen as irresponsible and reckless, but that is not the case.
"People don't realize all the good that we do," he said. "In the past, we have had problems with a few individuals, but we reorganized and only let the members come back that were meeting our standards and exceeding beyond that."
Barela said the new standards and requirements will benefit the organization's future members.
"We do advocate high scholarship, and focusing more on school would give you more opportunity to succeed through scholarship," he said. "It gives less leeway to do something that might cause problems for the fraternity or the future success of the particular individual."
