How we cover the Greek system

I understand why the Greek community is upset.

Our headlines have been dominated by topics that relate to fraternities and sororities — some directly, others less so.

We have not devoted so much space to these issues because of a vendetta against the Greek system. Many members of The Daily Tar Heel, including editors, are in fraternities or sororities.

But cocaine arrests and the changing relationship between the University and the fraternity system are big news in our community, and we would be irresponsible if we chose not to cover them as completely as possible.

Several letters to the editor and online comments have questioned why we mentioned the Greek connections of several students arrested for cocaine possession.

I don’t think cocaine use is endemic to the sorority system. We’ve been cognizant of that in our articles.

The DTH has for years published the address of arrested students when the information is available, and such a policy is common practice at news organizations throughout the country.

A recent example is last spring, when a student was charged with taking pictures of women in the shower. We noted that he lived in Teague Residence Hall.

And you better believe that if five DTH staffers were arrested on cocaine possession charges, their mug shots and addresses would be right up there on the front page.

We’ve also been asked why we reported on the cocaine arrests and did not write a story about several DTH staff members being cited for underage alcohol possession.

For years, the DTH has made it a policy not to write about incidents of underage drinking. Unfortunately, in this town or any college town, it’s not news. On any given weekend, up to two dozen people are given citations by the Chapel Hill Police Department for underage drinking.

An individual incident is not news. It becomes newsworthy when it results in suspension, investigation or intervention by a high-level UNC administrator.

That’s why we reported on the swim team captains being suspended. We knew of the citations the day before, but the fact that they were cited did not merit attention, though it was reported by The (Raleigh) News and Observer. When they were suspended, it became news.

The DTH has spent considerable time delving into the relationship between the Greek system and the University.

When Chancellor Holden Thorp announced that UNC would be re-evaluating how the University deals with fraternities in the wake of the death of the Delta Kappa Epsilon president, we knew we had a huge issue on our hands. Nearly 20 percent of campus is Greek, and Greek ties run deep into UNC’s history as the oldest public university in the country.

You may disagree with these guidelines. But in a job that requires so many ethical decisions made on a daily basis, we stick with the policies that have helped make us one of the best college newspapers in the country.

We will be holding the first meeting of our Community Feedback Board at 2 p.m. Oct. 9 in Union Room 3413.

I look forward to taking the opportunity to hear your thoughts on our coverage this year, about the Greek community and other topics.