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Willson advises ATO
By Jodi Westrick
Collegian Reporter
Alpha Tau Omega
fraternity alumni recently selected John Willson, Salvatori
Professor of History and Traditional Values, as the new faculty
adviser for the Beta Kappa chapter at Hillsdale. Willson's main
responsibility will be to oversee the academic progress within
the house.
"Over the years, the job
has become more of a disciplinarian and it has lost its original
intent," ATO Alumni Board President Dave Harmon said. "The
original purpose of the faculty adviser was to act as an intermediary
between members of the fraternity and the administration and
faculty.
"The adviser is also usually
an older man who has had far more experience with life in general
than a college-age man."
Willson said his role is an experiment
in redefining the way a faculty adviser associates with the
fraternity.
"[My job is] to explain the
liberal arts, advise academic matters and discuss aspirations,"
Willson said. "The idea is to build upon that in the fraternity
atmosphere. It has nothing to do with social life. That will
be left to those who are better equipped to handle those situations."
Willson was the faculty adviser
for Delta Sigma Phi several years ago and was also an adviser
to the now defunct Hillsdale chapter of Tau Kappa Epsilon 25
years ago.
Willson is an alumnus of the Sigma
Chi fraternity at Hobart College. He was actively involved in
the re-charter of the chapter on Hillsdale's campus in 1980.
"We're not entirely sure
how it will work," he said. "We'll see how it goes.
If it works, we'll go from there. If it doesn't, my position
would be irrelevant."
Harmon said that during the third
annual Greek Alumni Conference held this summer, alumni boards
from all of the campus fraternities and sororities discussed
ways in which Hillsdale's Greek system could be improved. A
revamping of fraternity faculty advisers was one of the issues
addressed.
"The college has made the
commitment to have one of the best Greek systems in the country,"
Harmon said. "The alumni boards are going to do their part
to make sure that the chapters live up to the ideals of their
organizations."
Although members of the fraternity
were not actively involved in the selection of their new faculty
adviser, the alumni's choice has been backed up by the brothers.
"I'm really happy that Dr.
Willson was chosen because he has been on the faculty for a
while," senior Graham Polando said. "He
knows the history of both the college and the fraternity which
will probably help to improve relations up the hill."
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Emma Tocci/Collegian
John Willson, standing outside
the Alpha Tau Omega house, has taken over as faculty adviser.
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