New rules for Cornell’s Greek system toughen hazing penalties

Under Cornell’s new rules, announced in August, Greek organizations must eliminate all activities involving alcohol from their recruitment and pledging activities, according to The Cornell Daily Sun. The new provisions also toughen penalties for hazing and state that all parties with alcohol should be closed to freshmen.

Princeton’s working group will not hold its first meeting until next week, but Vice President for Campus Life Cynthia Cherrey said in an e-mail that “one of the things that the working group may do is to review lessons learned from other universities.”

In an interview with The Daily Princetonian after the group was announced, President Shirley Tilghman said the working group would likely end up making one of three recommendations regarding the University’s fraternities and sororities: recognizing the groups, banning them or continuing the administration’s current policy of non-recognition.

Cornell’s new policies must be fully implemented by the 2012-13 academic year, which gives fraternities and sororities two years to adjust their current procedures and ease into the new conditions for recognition.

To facilitate this process, the Interfraternity Council at Cornell developed a proposed schedule that outlines a ban on “alcohol-centered Thanksgiving dinners” as a first step. It then delineates how groups will gradually phase out the presence of alcohol at events that previously offered it.

Allen Miller, a senior at Cornell and the Interfraternity Council’s president, said in an e-mail that “these changes will for the most part improve the safety of the campus community.”

Miller cautioned against “spill-over effects” outside the Greek system on dorms, co-ops and other housing, explaining “it will be crucial that the other areas of campus join the Greek system in improving the health and safety of campus.”

While there many students initially voiced concerns, Miller cited “a shift in tone on behalf of the administration towards a sense of partnership and teamwork in drafting the implementation plans to these proposed changes to the recognition policy. Since that shift in tone there has been a stronger spirit of cooperation and a general sentiment that, although these changes will be challenging, they are certainly workable and the student community is capable of adapting to them.”

Becky Lee, a sophomore at Cornell and the vice president for marketing for the Alpha Phi sorority, said in an interview, “I don’t think it’s the most optimal thing. I see what they’re trying to do, but I think there’s better ways to do it than just to make everything dry.”

Lee noted that the changes were not discussed with Greek organizations before they were implemented, but explained that “since we are kind of given a lot of freedom already in terms of underage drinking ... we can’t really be that upset, although it would have been nicer to have more of a say in how it was implemented.”

Travis Apgar, associate dean of students for fraternity and sorority affairs at Cornell, told the Sun that the move is geared toward creating a safer environment, emphasizing that the 2012-13 deadline is “not negotiable.”

“We’re not trying to create a dry system. We’re not trying to close any fraternities or sororities. We’re not trying to shrink the system,” Apgar said. He did not respond to a request for comment by the Daily Princetonian.

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Cornell’s policy toward fraternities and sororities appears to be more supportive of Greek life than Princeton’s. In a letter sent to the parents of incoming Cornell students, which is posted on the website of Cornell’s Office of the Dean of Students, Apgar wrote that Cornell’s Greek system is “one of the largest and most successful.”

“When considering fraternities and sororities many parents may think of the negative images portrayed in popular media,” he wrote. “The Greek community at Cornell prides itself for not living up to those kinds of stereotypical behaviors. Instead, we believe that Greek life can provide an opportunity for quality enhancement to the undergraduate collegiate experience and is a great way for students to make Cornell their home away from home.”

Greek life extends back more than 140 years at Cornell, with roughly one-third of students belonging to some 60 Greek organizations on campus.

Princeton administrators have sent letters to the parents of incoming freshmen discouraging students from joining Greek organizations while stating the University’s policy of not prohibiting membership.

University Vice President and Secretary Bob Durkee ’69 echoed Cherrey, his co-chair on the working group, saying in an e-mail that the group will “want to ... see whether there are lessons to be learned from experiences at other colleges and universities.”

Durkee and Cherrey declined to comment on Cornell’s policy.

Several leaders of fraternities and sororities at Princeton and Cornell did not respond to requests for comment.