Suspensions and sanctions

Article By Sara Kellner

Photo By Cody Scanlan | Photo Editor



After incidents of binge drinking, hazing and even fatalities, universities across the nation have begun to crack down on Greek Life.

At Central Michigan University, individual fraternities have been punished after an incident occurs. There are eight unrecognized fraternities and a sorority at CMU; four of those organizations were suspended in the last 24 months.

Phi Kappa Tau was suspended in February 2018 after an investigation by the Office of Student Conduct learned about a new member scavenger hunt that involved students drinking shots of alcohol in a Pearce Hall computer lab. Both the alcohol consumption and the scavenger hunt violated university policies. 

In February 2018, Sigma Lambda Gamma National Sorority, Inc. suspended its CMU chapter while investigating a hazing allegation.

Pi Kappa Phi was suspended in November 2017 after an investigation found it violated the Code of Student Rights, Responsibilities and Disciplinary Procedures for giving false information during interviews, hazing allegations and "a violation by a CMU Registered Student Organization." The investigation found that during a Big/Little reveal, new members had to hold a brick and pencil out in front of them and answer questions about the fraternity. Though not required, many wore blindfolds. The organization was previously placed on probation in Fall 2016 and violated university policies in Spring 2017 while on probation.

Phi Sigma Phi was suspended in August 2018 and permanently removed from campus in October. The fraternity received complaints for more than a decade, with 14 incidents occurring between 2015 and 2018. Six complaints accused fraternity members of hazing, sexual misconduct and assault.

Tony Voisin, associate vice president of Student Affairs said the university began the process of “re-imagining Greek Life at CMU” in Summer 2017. This process includes raising the new member GPA requirement, improving new member training, adding chapter training through the Office of Civil Rights and Institutional Equity and Sexual Aggression Peer Advocates and annual chapter assessments.

“We are seeing movement in the right direction, but we also understand that change does not happen overnight,” Voisin said.

Interfraternity Council President Connor Drake and Panhellenic Council President Morgan Victory declined to comment for this story.

Binge-drinking culture

At its Aug. 27 meeting, the North American Interfraternity Conference, which represents 66 national and international fraternities, voted unanimously to approve a hard liquor ban for all of its 6,100 chapters.

The hard liquor ban, effective Sept. 1, 2019, prohibits products above 15 percent alcohol by volume to be inside any chapter house or social event. Hard liquor is only allowed if served by a third-party vendor, according to an NIC press release.

“At their core, fraternities are about brotherhood, personal development and providing a community of support,” NIC President and CEO Judson Horras said in the release. “Alcohol abuse and its serious consequences endanger this very purpose.”

This ban affects seven of CMU’s 10 fraternities. Todd Shelton, chief communication officer, said the NIC is a trade association and membership is voluntary, so that is why some national fraternities are not a part of it. Regardless, Shelton said all fraternities have their own governing documents they are expected to follow.

The NIC’s hard liquor ban is part of a larger goal to eliminate the binge-drinking culture that exists in fraternities across the nation.

The student leaders of the Interfraternity Council at the University of Missouri chose to ban hard liquor in 2015. As a way to promote transparency, the rule called for auditors to monitor fraternity events and report any incidents directly to the university's Office of Student Accountability and Support, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education

That rule didn’t last though. 

In 2017, the rule was changed to sending auditor’s reports to the fraternity president, chapter adviser and council leaders. The report could be forwarded to the Office of Student Conduct if they felt a violation had occurred.

Purdue University had a similar hard liquor ban in 2010. Student leaders banned hard liquor after a student died at an off-campus party and there were more than 24 alcohol-related medical calls in one semester. However, the student leaders are the ones who gather reports and decide what the punishment should be for a violation. The ban was renewed in 2015. According to the Chronicle, one fraternity violated the alcohol ban, 10 have active sanctions relating to alcohol violations and sixteen others were penalized between 2016 and 2018.

While this is the first hard liquor policy approved by the NIC as a whole, universities have implemented similar policies.  

Grand Valley State University recently imposed sanctions on Greek Life after seven fraternities and two sororities were disciplined during a five-year period. On Oct. 31, 2018, administrators announced the sanctions at a Greek Life Town Hall, according to the Grand Valley Lanthorn, GVSU’s student-run newspaper.

The sanctions include:

· No alcohol allowed at chapter events.

· GVSU will not accept any new fraternities or sororities.

· The relationship agreement between GVSU and each chapter will be put on hold “until conditions improve.”

· A task force will investigate issues regarding Greek Life.

“We can’t wait,” said Bob Stoll, GVSU associate dean for Student Life. “We have to do this now. We’re too close to a situation where we might lose one of you in this room.”

Fatalities at fraternities

Although the sanctions at GVSU were preventative, most universities impose sanctions on Greek Life after an incident has occurred. According to CNN, there have been 77 fraternity-related deaths since 2005.

Of those 77, the most high-profile ones are:

September 2014: Clemson University student Tucker Hipps died of a head injury after falling off a bridge during an early-morning Sigma Phi Epsilon pledge run.

November 2014: West Virginia University freshman Nolan Burch was found unconscious and not breathing inside the Kappa Sigma fraternity house.

February 2017: Penn State University student Timothy Piazza died of a head injury after falling down the stairs in the Beta Theta Pi fraternity house.

September 2017: Louisiana State University freshman Maxwell Gruver died after consuming a massive amount of alcohol during a Phi Delta Theta pledge event. His blood alcohol level was .495 percent.

November 2017: Florida State University student Andrew Coffey died of acute alcohol poisoning during a Pi Kappa Phi event. His blood alcohol level was .447 percent.

November 2017: Texas State University student Matthew Ellis was found unresponsive in an off-campus apartment. His blood alcohol level was .38 percent.

November 2018: Ohio University student Colin Waint died of asphyxiation due to nitrous oxide ingestion while pledging Sigma Pi.

In April 2018, Central Michigan University and Murray State University – where Robert Davies served as president before coming to CMU – both experienced fraternity-related deaths.

At Murray State, Zach Wardrip, who was not a student, was visiting a friend in April 2018 and they went to a party at a fraternity house, according to the local NBC station WPSD. WPSD reported that after the party, Wardrip went to a different fraternity house where he fell asleep. Wardrip was found dead the next morning. The cause of death was ruled an accident by ethanol intoxication.

At 12:43 a.m. on April 29, 2018, the Mount Pleasant Police Department and medical authorities were dispatched to a house on South Main Street. Kevin Ajluni, a Phi Sigma Phi member, was airlifted to Saginaw Covenant Hospital. As friends left a gathering at the PSP president's apartment, Ajluni fell down a flight of stairs. He was found by another fraternity brother sometime later. He suffered from a skull fracture and bleeding on the brain, according to police. 

Ajluni had been drinking at the PSP "Senior Send Off" earlier that day. His blood alcohol level was .242 percent.

Ajluni died May 3, 2018 from his injuries, just days before he was to walk in CMU's commencement ceremonies. 

Suspensions and sanctions

At all of these universities – except CMU – administrators chose to suspend all Greek Life activities for a period of time.

Typically at CMU, individual fraternities are punished for wrongdoing. Voisin said he doesn’t understand why a university would punish Greek Life as a whole because of the actions of a single organization.

“My philosophy is that those who have crossed the line – who have violated university policies, who have conducted themselves not in accordance with our procedures – we will take action (against),” Voisin said. “I’m not going to penalize groups that are operating appropriately.”

At a meeting held about three years ago, Voisin and other administrators gathered fraternity members together in Plachta Auditorium to address behavior issues that had come to the university's attention.

“We said ‘enough is enough,’” Voisin said. “Why are we getting notices from Mount Pleasant about your houses being pigsties? Why are your GPAs continuing to go south? I told them if we don’t see improvements, it doesn’t matter how much money you raise for your philanthropies. (That’s) not what bases my decision on whether a group should be here or not.”

University of Michigan's Interfraternity Council – which is comprised of students – chose to suspend Greek social events and new member pledges in Fall 2017. The council was investigating more than 80 sexual assault complaints reported between July 2015 and June 2016, according to The Michigan Daily. In a written statement, Alec Mayhan, the IFC executive vice president at the time said, “We believe that social events are a privilege, and we, as a community, have not earned this privilege at this time.”

Most universities lifted suspensions after a few months and release new sets of rules and policies for Greek organizations to follow. Rules ranged from risk management training at Texas State University, heightened security at parties at Clemson University and West Virginia University, alcohol bans at Florida State University or a combination of these sanctions. 

On May 9, 2018, Murray State suspended all Greek social activities. It lifted the suspension on Aug. 24, 2018 and introduced new rules for Greek organizations including a 22-page social event policy. WPSD published the full list of rules. Some of the new rules include:

· Chapter officers and 90 percent of chapter members are required to complete training for drinking, conflict resolution and bystander intervention

· All social events must be scheduled on an official Greek social event calendar. No more than three Greek social events are allowed in a weekend, and no more than two per night.

· Social events are limited to mostly Greek members. No more than 15 non-members are allowed at an event and all attendees must be Murray State students.

· Attendees must present a Greek ID and another photo ID to get into an event. Check-in and check-out software must be used at events.

As for the future of Greek life at CMU, Damon Brown, director of Student Activities and Involvement, thinks it will continue to grow.

Greek organizations at CMU work hard to raise money for their respective philanthropies, and often work together. During Greek Week 2019, organizations at CMU raised $90,000 for the Isabella County Restoration House and Parents United to Stop Hazing (PUSH). Last year, they raised $100,000 for the Women's Aid Shelter and Special Days Camps.

"If you're a student, and you want to be in an organization that's going to challenge you to be a better version of yourself," Brown said, "(Greek life) is one of those opportunities to do that."


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