The Greek Awareness Council agreed to strip itself of powers concerning conflict resolution and rush mediation at the end of September after the GAC had trouble mediating conflicts between member fraternities and sororities, said Co-presidents of the GAC Mariah Voronoff '14 and Dan Leisman '14 in separate interviews with the Justice.

The power to resolve conflicts among fraternities and sororities and set rules for Greek rush events will now rest with a Council of Presidents, which is composed of the presidents of the eight member fraternities and sororities of the GAC and the president of the GAC, said the co-presidents.

The Council is an organization formed by the fraternities and sororities and has no affiliation with Brandeis. The GAC, however, is an organization recognized by the Union Senate.

"All rules to govern the start and end dates of rush and the definitions thereof as well as the mediations of other conflicts or concerns that arise will be determined by a council of the Presidents of all of the Greek organizations and the GAC President(s)," according to amendment V of the new GAC constitution.

"The original purpose of the GAC was to raise awareness of Greek life and involve the Greek community on campus, and I think one of the things that was kind of getting in the way was the governing aspect of it," said Leisman. The GAC is now "much better able" to fulfill its original goal, he said.

The changes stem mostly from a dispute during rush this semester, when one organization accused another of having a party on a night when rush events were prohibited by the GAC.

"During rush, there were a few complications and mix-ups with dates and whatnot because we pushed back our beginning of rush to after Orientation so that there would be no conflicts," said Voronoff.

There were also instances of rules being put in place by the GAC that "were simply not followed," said Leisman. It was "hard" for the GAC to enforce its rules because it did not have the necessary powers, he explained.

Instead of resolving the conflict within the GAC, Voronoff said she and Co-president Leisman decided to bring the disagreement to the presidents of all the Greek organizations as a way to "nip it in the bud."

Greek organizations then decided that "it would be effective to have the heads of the organizations involved, who kind of expediate [sic] any conflict resolution as well as regulating rules of rush like our recruitment process," said Voronoff.

The Council of Presidents resolved the original conflict and will continue in a regulatory and disciplinary capacity.

"The GAC's purpose has always been to increase awareness of Greek Life on Brandeis and form a line of communication for students, faculty, and administration," wrote Nick Petrocchi '12, president of GAC member organization Alpha Delta Phi, in an email to the Justice.

When the GAC tried to use "disciplinary means," however, "this system was deemed inferior to the GAC's original purpose," wrote Petrocchi.

The GAC plans to promote Greek unity through events such as Greek Week, expansion of Greek life and philanthropy events, said the co-presidents.