The University of Memphis has suspended four fraternities for violating the university’s Code of Student Rights and Responsibilities since the Fall 2017 semester.
Alpha Kappa Psi Professional Co-ed Business Fraternity, Alpha Tau Omega, Pi Kappa Alpha and Sigma Alpha Epsilon, the four suspended organizations, received their suspensions partially for hazing. Three of the fraternities were also caught giving alcohol to students under 21 years old.
Alpha Kappa Psi will be suspended until August 1 of this year, Alpha Tau Omega and Pi Kappa Alpha will both be suspended until Dec. 31, 2022, and Sigma Alpha Epsilon will be suspended until Dec. 31, 2021, or until all current members have graduated, whichever option occurs first.
Associate Vice President of Student Affairs and Dean of Students Justin Lawhead said the university is working with the leadership of the remaining fraternities to prevent more hazing and alcohol issues. The office required all fraternity and sorority members to attend several events, including a training session discussing hazing.
“I think we’ve been pretty clear with the organizations that have these problems and have had frank conversations about these issues with the other organizations,” Lawhead said.
Chandler Ellis, a U of M alumna and former vice president of philanthropy of Pi Beta Phi, said she thinks these suspensions are well deserved.
“I think the university did a great job,” Ellis said. “I don’t think it is completely fair that they were suspended for what the other fraternities are doing, but given the circumstances of what they were caught for, it is understandable.”
Ellis said she thinks hazing in fraternities is more intense and extensive than in sororities.
“The boys are held to a different standard,” Ellis said. “They have to put up with so much more hazing than the girls do.”
Binge drinking is rampant among college students, not just those involved in Greek life, according to a 2015 survey by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. They found that about 60 percent of college students between ages 18 and 22 drank alcohol in the past month, and two out of three of those students said they engaged in binge drinking.
Drinking in college environments could set students up for dangerous situations. The survey found that about 97,000 students aged 18-24 were victim to alcohol-related sexual assault. It also found that one in four college students said their academic progress was negatively affected because of drinking.
The Daily Helmsman previously reported state Rep. John DeBerry (D-Memphis) introduced House Bill 2042 to the Tennessee state legislature, which would prohibit Greek life on all campuses in the state. Many people, including Associate Dean of Student Leadership and Involvement Sally Parish, thought this was too extreme a measure to fix the various problems associated with Greek life.
DeBerry’s bill is under review by the Tennessee House of Representatives’ Education Administration and Planning Subcommittee. The Tennessee Senate’s Education Committee is reviewing the Senate counter to DeBerry’s bill.
Although The Daily Helmsman could not get any of the national headquarters of the fraternity organizations suspended on campus for comment, PKA does mandate that their position on hazing is read to each new member class’ first meeting and signed by the incoming members, according to their website.
