Syracuse University Chancellor Kent Syverud will provide an update on SU’s months-long Greek life review during an address to the campus community on Monday.

The university launched the review of all fraternity and sorority policies, activities and culture after last spring’s Theta Tau videos controversy. SU has suspended or expelled five Greek organizations since fall 2017 for conduct violations that included hazing and threatening behavior, and four fraternities are currently under sanctions.

Sarah Scalese, SU’s senior associate vice president for communications, said in an email that Syverud would provide an update on the review during his Winter Message on Monday at 3:45 p.m. She didn’t elaborate on whether the university would release a full-length report on Monday.

Syverud initially said that the review and revision of the university’s Greek practices would be completed before the fall 2018 semester. In a December interview with The Daily Orange, the chancellor said he expected the results and recommendations from the review to be released before the start of the spring 2019 semester. The review has not been released as of Sunday night.

Syverud announced the review one day after the university suspended the Theta Tau engineering fraternity for its involvement in the creation of videos the chancellor called “extremely racist, anti-Semitic, homophobic, sexist, and hostile to people with disabilities.” Theta Tau was permanently expelled three days after its suspension.

Susie Teuscher | Digital Design Editor

SU suspended three other fraternities in the 2017-18 academic year prior to the Theta Tau videos controversy.

The Delta Tau Delta fraternity was suspended in October 2017 for conduct violations that included hazing. The Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity was suspended in February 2018 for conduct that threatened the safety of a student participating in the Greek organization’s new member process. The Sigma Alpha Mu fraternity was suspended in April 2018 after a months-long hazing investigation.

“I’m confident that we’re gonna have a much-improved Greek life as a result of the work that’s been done in the Division of Enrollment and the Student Experience,” Syverud said in December. “I think that it addresses the right issues in the right way, and I think the aspiration is to get to best practices.”

Undergraduate students at SU have mixed opinions on the benefits of Greek life, according to the results of a survey sent to students as part of the review. Just under half of students who are not members of Greek organizations said that fraternities and sororities don’t have a positive impact on SU, according to the results of the survey, which was released in September.

The majority of students in Greek life said their experiences have helped them feel connected to SU, and that their involvement has helped them make connections with other students, according to the survey.

In December, Syverud said he believed the implementation of the coming recommendations will require “cultural change” on campus.

Published on January 13, 2019 at 10:31 pm

Contact Jordan: jmulle01@syr.edu | @jordanmuller18