Universities across the country have conducted reviews of Greek life in recent years, revealing behavioral incidents, violations of student conduct codes and issues of diversity among members and chapters.

In January, Syracuse University released the results of an external review following a months-long investigation into the university’s Greek life after the Theta Tau controversy last year. Videos released by The Daily Orange showed members of the engineering fraternity engaging in behavior Chancellor Kent Syverud called “extremely racist, anti-Semitic, homophobic, sexist, and hostile to people with disabilities.”

SU’s report identified six main problems with the Greek community: lack of diversity and inclusion among members, insufficient staffing and funding within the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs, poor communication with stakeholders, differing law enforcement jurisdictions, risky behaviors and unregistered parties.

A recommendation to improve the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs’ internal communications and a proposal to hold annual meetings with representatives from SU’s Greek organizations were among the 33 suggestions for improvement.

Here are the results of reviews from five universities:

West Virginia University

In November 2014, Nolan Burch died as a result of alcohol poisoning during a hazing incident involving the Kappa Sigma fraternity at West Virginia University, according to Campus Safety Magazine. The fraternity had its charter pulled two days before his death.

Matthew Richardson, director of the Office of Fraternity & Sorority Life at West Virginia University, said in an interview with The Daily Orange that he was part of a 14-member work group that reviewed Greek life at the university from February to August 2018. The review did not mention Burch’s death.

The work group, comprised of students, faculty, alumni and headquarters partners, presented its findings in a report published Aug. 6, 2018. Richardson said the report focused specifically on the social culture of Greek life, as well as the recruitment and new member education processes.

The report reviewed all operating Greek organizations at the university and offered recommendations for improvement where needed, including hazing-related educational programs for the Alpha Sigma Phi fraternity and an academic support mentor for the Phi Delta Theta fraternity.

The plan was in response to “numerous allegations” of hazing and sexual misconduct, as well as alcohol abuse and possible drug distribution, Richardson said.

SU’s report did not offer specific suggestions to any particular fraternity or sorority group. It did include several methods for addressing hazing, including creating a hazing education program and a hazing report form.

“We now have had a death in a secondary school or college each year from 1961-2019. The first fraternity death from hazing was 1873; the last was February 2019,”said Hank Nuwer, journalist and author of “Hazing: Destroying Young Lives,” in an email.

Nuwer said he thought the hazing solutions suggested by SU’s reviewers were a good start, but recommended strengthening New York state’s anti-hazing laws to be more like those in Florida. The Chad Meredith Act, in effect since 2005, classifies hazing incidents in Florida resulting in death or serious injury as third degree felonies.

As a result of the WVU report, five fraternities disassociated from the university and formed an independent interfraternity council, Richardson said. The Kappa Alpha Order and the Alpha Sigma Phi, Sigma Chi, Theta Chi and Phi Sigma Kappa fraternities disassociated, Richardson said. Ten chapters remained with the university’s own interfraternity council following the report.

The students believed the report violated their rights to associate, Richardson said.

“We do not believe that we infringed on that at all, (the review) was not a disciplinary process, it was a recognition review process,” he said.

No fraternities or sororities disassociated from SU following the release of the Greek life report.

Pennsylvania State University

Pennsylvania State University administrations announced reforms for Greek life in June 2017 following the death of Timothy Piazza who died due to hazing and intoxication in the Beta Theta Pi fraternity in February 2017. Penn State has not conducted an external review of their Greek life system.

An internal Greek life response team of five administrators and an advisory group of 14 “key stakeholders” collaborated on the reform plan, said Heather Hottle Robbins, manager of External Communications News and Media Relations at Penn State.

Hottle Robbins said in an email to The Daily Orange that Penn State has made “strong progress” in implementing the reforms.

Penn State has hired monitors to perform unannounced spot-checks of off campus fraternity houses, Hottle Robbins said. She said Penn State deferred fraternity and sorority recruitment and halted all Greek life activities following Piazza’s death.

Greek life activities were not cancelled following the Theta Tau incident in April or while conducting the Greek life report at SU.

Hottle said the university also supported passing the Timothy J. Piazza Antihazing Law, which establishes a tiered penalty system for punishing hazing and classifies new types of hazing. It also holds individuals and organizations accountable to required institutions to publish anti-hazing policies and hazing violations.

Penn State also created the Timothy J. Piazza Center for fraternity and sorority research and reform, pledging $2 million toward it, she said. The university extended its Responsible Action Protocol guidelines, which protects students who are intoxicated and encourages them to seek help from another student. The changes now protect the students who help the intoxicated individuals.

“We are optimistic about the initial progress being made and remain committed to focusing on student safety and well-being for all students,” Hottle Robbins said.

Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania

Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania published an external review of its Greek life in January of 2018.

The review involved an analysis of prior reports, interviews with students and community members and takeaways from a forum for students involved in Greek life.

Dione Somerville, vice president for student affairs at Bloomsburg, said there was no particular incident involving fraternity or sorority members that created a need for the report.

Greek life philanthropy and community service were one of the report’s most positive findings, Somerville said. Issues with Greek life outlined in the report included inconsistent chapter advising and poor tracking of Greek life membership data within the student information system, she said.

The consultants recommended restructuring the university’s Greek life office, adjusting hazing policy to specify who can report conduct violations. The reorganization of Bloomsburg’s Greek life office is a similar recommendation to SU’s report, which suggested improving FASA’s organizational structure.

Bloomsburg’s review found 25 formal complaints alleged against members of Greek life organizations for violations to Bloomburg’s Student Code of Conduct between 2012 and 2017, the report revealed. About half of the complaints concerned hazing, while the others involved sexual misconduct, fighting, illegal pledging and substance abuse, per the report.

Of the examined cases, two students were suspended and eight were placed on probation. Only 10 of the cases could be formally reviewed, as some complainants chose to remain anonymous, leading the consultants to conclude that there is “reasonable speculation” that conduct violations are underreported.

“One of the recommendations from the consultants was to review our hazing policy, which we did,” Somerville said.

She added that, after the report was conducted, the Piazza law was passed, further shaping the university’s hazing policies and procedures. As part of the law’s requirements, colleges and universities in Pennsylvania must publish and update cases of hazing to their websites every six months.

Behavioral incidents were briefly discussed in the SU report, with no data given on the number of incidents reported over any particular time period.

The Bloomsburg data report also found that 9.5% of the university’s 1,166 Greek life members in 2017 were students of color, while 61.4% were white. More than 30% of students did not state their ethnicity. Additionally, the report found that 22 students were involved in multicultural Greek chapters.

SU’s review found their Interfraternity Council and Panhellenic Council combined had 4,081 members. The National Pan-Hellenic Council, National Association of Latino Fraternal Organizations and the Multicultural Greek Council have 163 members combined.

Members of SU’s multicultural organizations said they felt marginalized within the Greek community, according to the report. The report did not specify the demographics of Interfraternity Council and Panhellenic Council members.

Somerville said the review “provided a road map for us to move forward, to make improvements to our Greek community,” adding that the scope of the consultant’s research “helped create an awareness of the needs of our Greek life community.”

University of Wisconsin-Madison

The University of Wisconsin-Madison conducted an external review of their Greek life system from March 31 to April 4, said Assistant Director of Fraternity and Sorority Life Maggie Hayes in an email to The Daily Orange. The review team members have not been confirmed, Hayes said.

“While we know that many students have positive experiences, we also know that there are challenges nationally and at UW-Madison,” she said.

Hayes said the report will help fraternities utilize best practices that follow national trends of Greek life reform and increase student safety.

The Theta Chi chapter at UW-Madison was recently suspended from the university due to drug and alcohol violations. Five fraternities are unrecognized at the university, and four have been expelled since 2015.

Hayes said the report will investigate six areas: accountability, diversity and inclusion, institutional relationship, membership experience, resources and support and student safety. She added that reviewing diversity and inclusion will assess community climate for underrepresented students, programming and institutional support.

When reviewing diversity and inclusion, SU’s external review found that members of multicultural Greek organizations detailed instances of microaggressions and cultural appropriation.

UW-Madison will review student safety by evaluating current programs and policies related to alcohol, drugs, sexual violence and hazing, Hayes said.

SU’s report found that affiliated students mentioned some underlying concerns with hazing, including sleep deprivation, extreme exercise and emotional abuse. It said that students requested training around bystander behavior, identifying hazing and creating “alternatives to hazing behavior.”

Published on April 17, 2019 at 10:37 pm

Contact Natalie: nrrubiol@syr.edu