The Syracuse University Student Association is calling on the university to conduct an audit of all Greek life in the wake of the suspension of the Theta Tau fraternity on Wednesday.

Theta Tau, a professional engineering fraternity, was suspended after SU confirmed the organization was involved in creating videos showing fraternity members using language that was “extremely racist, anti-Semitic, homophobic, sexist, and hostile to people with disabilities,” Chancellor Kent Syverud said in a campus-wide email.

SA President James Franco and Vice President Angie Pati requested an extensive audit of all fraternities and sororities on campus, including social, professional and multicultural organizations.

“It would be an external review from members outside of the university community,” Franco said. “Experts who are nationwide on Greek life, they would work with individual chapters and national chapters and just review, again, operations of Greek life on campus to see what goes well and what could be improved.”

Both Franco and Pati said the audit’s goal would not be to eliminate Greek life. The audit would determine what Greek organizations are doing well and not well, with an intention of sharing that information with the community, Franco said.

Pati said the audit had been discussed with SU administrators before Theta Tau’s suspension. The audit was scheduled to begin in summer 2018, but Franco said SA is calling for the review to begin as soon as possible.

Franco said an external team may review all aspects of each fraternity and sorority, including recruitment strategies, chapter meetings, how social events are run and communication strategies.

Both Franco and Pati are involved in fraternities. Franco is in social fraternity Delta Upsilon, and Pati is in Phi Sigma Pi, a professional honors fraternity.

“Loving something is also recognizing its flaws in some aspects,” Pati said. “It’s also really important to note that we recognize that there are a lot of Greek organizations that are doing everything right and are awesome.”

Colin Davy | Staff Photographer

Ghufran Salih and Kyle Rosenblum, who were recently elected as SA’s 2018-19 academic year president and vice president, respectively, both said at a Hendricks Chapel meeting Wednesday afternoon that they want to be involved in conversations with university administrators about the Greek life audit. Salih said that while the Hendricks gathering is a good way to hear from people, she wants to see change in practice.

These types of audits are typically done on an ongoing basis as part of work through Greek life offices, said Jason Meriwether, a Greek life expert and vice president for student success at Rhode Island College. This type of work should be more proactive as opposed to reactive, Meriwether said.

“In reality, colleges and universities are taking on this type of work all the time in terms of accepting whether organizations are meeting the values of the institution,” Meriwether said.

Meriwether also said this type of work should include partnerships and consistent dialogue with respective fraternity and sorority national organizations.

“It’s never a good thing that your first conversation with the national organization is when someone is in trouble,” Meriwether said.

Audits of Greek life have become more common after four fraternity pledges died in the United States in 2017, said Hank Nuwer, a journalist and author of “Hazing: Destroying Young Lives,” a book about hazing. Greek life has been audited at Indiana University, Florida State University and Pennsylvania State University, he added.

John Hechinger, an author who wrote “True Gentlemen: The Broken Pledge of America’s Fraternities,” said SU’s audit could be part of a widespread movement among colleges nationwide to re-evaluate Greek life on campuses.

“This is part of a broader re-examination of fraternities really across the country,” Hechinger said. “Something that I think is more serious and more sustained than we’ve seen in past years.”

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MORE COVERAGE: 

• Syverud: SU will start ‘top to bottom’ review of all Greek life policies, activities and culture
• SA president urges SU administrators to make themselves available following Theta Tau suspension
• Students protest Theta Tau videos outside Chancellor Kent Syverud’s house
• Gallery: SU campus community reacts to Theta Tau videos

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But Hechinger also said there is debate over the effectiveness of audits because there has been little action after universities complete Greek life reviews.

Theta Tau is the fourth SU fraternity suspended during the 2017-18 academic year. SU announced a suspension of the Sigma Alpha Mu fraternity last week after a months-long investigation into hazing. SU suspended Alpha Epsilon Pi in February for conduct that threatened the safety of a student participating in the new member process. The SU chapter of Delta Tau Delta was suspended in fall 2017 for conduct violations that included hazing.

The following Greek organizations are being disciplined for Code of Student Conduct violations, according to SU’s Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs:

• Delta Kappa Epsilon is on disciplinary probation through December 2019 and social probation through December 2018 for conduct violations related to hazing.
• The Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity is on disciplinary probation through March 2019 and on social probation through May 2018. The nature of the conduct violations is currently unclear.
• The Sigma Chi fraternity is on disciplinary reprimand through September 2018. The nature of the conduct violations is currently unclear.
• The Zeta Beta Tau fraternity is on disciplinary reprimand through December 2018. The nature of the conduct violations is currently unclear.
• The Psi Upsilon fraternity is on disciplinary reprimand through October 2018 and social probation through May 2018. The nature of the conduct violations is currently unclear.

The Hermandad de Sigma Iota Alpha sorority is currently under investigation for policy violations, according to FASA’s website. Alpha Kappa Psi, a professional business fraternity, is also being investigated for policy violations.

Published on April 18, 2018 at 10:48 pm