The Counseling Center of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is working in coordination with the Chapel Hill Police Department to help the various people affected by the deaths and injuries suffered in the fire at the Phi Gamma Delta house Sunday morning.
As time since the incident has passed, the role played by the two organizations has progressed from providing information about the identities of the victims to providing psychological counseling for all those in need.
"Our role was to help assess what the emotional and traumatic needs were for the citizens, family and friends," said Jim Huegerich, director of the crisis center for the Chapel Hill Police Department.
Huegerich's team worked with the university's Counseling Center to help determine the identities of the missing persons and to keep family members informed of new information about the causes of the fire. Now that the commotion has quieted, he added, the crisis center is compiling briefings for memorial services and for people who knew the victims.
Glen Martin, associate director of the Counseling Center, said that workshops were conducted for friends and family members of the deceased and for employees of the fraternity house. The discussion-style sessions provided the opportunity for those who lost loved ones in the fire to begin to deal with their grief, he added. "We talked to people about what they were feeling... and let them talk out their grief, fear and anger," Martin said.
Looking ahead to the beginning of the fall semester, Martin said that he does not expect many students to return for counseling. He noted, however, that the emotional trauma has not sunk in yet. According to Martin, the possibility exists that a few students will experience an increased sense of grief and sadness over the summer, which may require counseling in the fall.
The tragic consequences of the fire have put pressure on officials at UNC-CH to address the issue of fire safety in Greek housing.
The difficulty the university faces, however, is that all of the fraternity houses are independently owned by their respective alumni, which will complicate attempts to address the issue unilaterally, said Ron Bender, director of the Office of Greek Affairs at UNC-CH. Bender added that the high cost incurred by installing sprinkler systems into Greek housing-precautionary measures not required by city ordinances-will also require consideration.
The fraternity houses are currently inspected twice a year by the North Carolina Department of Insurance to make sure they are complying with the proper fire codes. If a house violates these codes, its residents are notified and are expected to correct their mistakes. If the living group does not comply, Bender is notified and he intervenes to resolve the issue. So far, there has been no need for Bender to take such action.
Although the fire has spawned discussion concerning the possible implementation of aggressive measures promoting fire safety, there will be no adjustments to university policy on Greek parties.
"We do have an extensive party and risk management policy currently in place," Bender said.
Provisions in the policy include such items as bringing your own beer, prohibiting kegs, preventing party advertising and enforcing party security.
Bender said the university feels that there is no relation between its party policy and the fire at the Phi Gamma Delta house.
Although the members of Phi Gamma Delta are certain that they will soon have new living arrangements, Martin Carver, a member of the fraternity's graduate association, said that it remains unclear whether they will rebuild the partially destroyed structure or start from scratch.
"We have not as yet been able to ascertain if we can rebuild with what we have... we're just to early in the process to be able to formulate a plan."
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