Rutgers Bans Parties at Fraternities and Sororities
As incidents of appalling wrongdoing in fraternity and sorority houses around the country continue to grab headlines, Rutgers University has taken the dramatic action of banning all parties at sorority and fraternity houses.
NJ.com says the university has attributed the ban to a number of recent incidents where alcohol was factor. In total, 86 Greek organizations will be affected. The ban is not permanent and is said to only be in place until the end of this Spring semester.
The ban is not absolute, as the organizations will still be able to hold their usual formal dances, where sororities and fraternities pair up for dates and get dressed up for a night of dancing and partying. The ban also does not affect off-campus locations where a third party distributes the alcohol. This will allow the organizations to carry out fundraisers and other events as they typically do.
In the 2014-2015 school year at Rutgers, at least one student has died and another was hospitalized because of alcohol related complications. At least five Greek organizations are also being investigated because of their handling of alcohol and parties.
The ban also comes after racist chant at University of Oklahoma went viral, shocking the nation and leading to the closure of that fraternity chapter at the university. In addition to that incident, several cases involving hazing and the deaths of frat members and pledges, such as Tucker Hipps, have been getting regular media attention. One incident at the University of Houston is rumored to have involved the torture practice of waterboarding using alcohol.
The decision by Rutgers to ban frat and sorority parties in a year which has already been turbulent may be an effort to get ahead of the problem in the hopes of stopping an embarrassing situation from becoming tragic.
