Social life at Rutgers University is taking a massive hit for the rest of the year. According to New Brunswick Today, fraternity and sorority parties on campus have been banned for the rest of the semester following several high-profile investigations into incidents that occurred at fraternity houses on College Avenue.
The decision was made in a March 31 meeting that lasted in the early morning of April 1. Dean JoAnn Arnholt and senior staff at The Rutgers Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs held a meeting with the presidents of each fraternity and sorority, as well as their respective governing bodies, the Interfraternity Council, the Pan-Hellenic Association, and the Panhellenic Council.
Erin Kearns, the Panhellenic President, told New Brunswick Today, “The decision our advisors made is not a punishment for our community. It’s a yellow light to allow us to reflect on how and what we can do to be a better Greek community.”
She added that the decision was made to keep members of the 86 fraternity and sorority chapters in the Greek community at Rutgers safe.
The ban comes after several scandals took place at fraternity parties this school year. In September, a 19-year-old sophomore girl was hospitalized following a party at Delta Kappa Epsilon. She soon died with alcohol poisoning revealed to be the cause. DKE has since been suspended.
Only six weeks later, a 20-year-old student was hospitalized after a party at the Sigma Phi Epsilon House. Just a few weeks ago, SigEp’s national headquarters decided to revoke the chapter due to the incident.
Although balls, dinners, and formals that take place off-campus are still a go, RU students are understandably upset by the decision. Some took to Twitter to express their opinions.
Rutgers University bans all Greek life parties on campus. Also bans everything it had going for it. http://t.co/ye9u7BkWEX
— Larry Sukernik (@lsukernik) April 6, 2015
https://twitter.com/andrewvallejo/status/585160699564974081
https://twitter.com/j_rodriiguezzz/status/583710162827014144
..if rutgers greek life is on probation so is my social life ?! TF
— K•tina (@ktina_martinez) April 2, 2015
apparently all of rutgers greek life is on indefinite probation wow ok
— hard seltzer arms race 2019 (@estherabinowitz) April 2, 2015
