Tag: Greek Life

Eighteen-year-old Louisiana State University student Maxwell Gruver died in 2017 after chugging alcohol for a Phi Delta Theta fraternity ritual, The New York Times explains. Nearly six years later, his parents won $6.1 million from a lawsuit they brought against one of the fraternity members and his insurance company. The…

Almost two years after sophomore Stone Foltz died of alcohol poisoning following a fraternity hazing event, The New York Times reveals his parents reached a $2.9 million settlement with the school, Bowling Green State University. The Foltzes also declared their intention to put the settlement money towards the organization they…

According to The Chronicle, colleges are increasingly publishing the disciplinary records of student organizations, specifically Greek ones, to help inform parents or students who are concerned or interested in joining. And while becoming more common, this tactic is controversial—supported as a way to increase transparency and challenged due to privacy…

In an op-ed for Inside Higher Ed, Daniel R. Schwarz, Frederic J. Whiton Professor of English at Cornell University, argues for the elimination of Greek Life across college campuses. He suggests that the type of binge drinking, hazing, groupthink, and sexual assault cultivated within fraternities and sororities suppresses personal growth…

As a new assistant professor at Rollins College, Jana Mathews charted an unconventional path to get to know her students by deciding to join a sorority. Now she’s the author of a new book about Greek Life, exploring not only its toxic elements but its capacity for forging close same-sex…

Greek Life and Hazing  Inside Higher Ed offers a Q&A with Byron Hurt, the documentary filmmaker whose latest work features the dangers of hazing associated with Greek Life and other campus organizations. Hurt discusses his own experience in a Black fraternity at Northeastern University, the power of trauma bonding, and…

Several fraternities are dissafilliating from the University of Southern California, meaning they will no longer be subject to oversight from the school, which suspended fraternity activities last year after a wave of drugging and sexual assault accusations. According to Inside Higher Ed and Higher Ed Dive, the case at USC…

The New York Times sheds light on the paranoia pervading sororities at the University of Alabama, which is reportedly dismissing hopeful members suspected of video-taping rush activities. After video footage of Alabama rush went viral on TikTok last year, and as rumors about a documentary on sororities at Alabama swirl,…

Inside Higher Ed reports on college women experiencing hazing. Recent hazing allegations of waterboarding at Norwich University involved a 22-year-old women’s rugby team member found intoxicated, “branded with pliers and a lighter,” and covered in urine. “Our research at the Piazza Center suggests that women are more likely to engage…