Miami University tops among area colleges in suspensions, closures of Greek organizations

March 09--Last week's closure of the Beta Theta Pi fraternity at Miami University represented the ninth time a Greek organization on campus had been suspended or closed since 2009, according to Miami's office of Ethics and Student Conflict Resolution.

A Journal-News survey of Cincinnati- and Dayton-area universities shows that Miami tops the list of fraternity/sorority closures and suspensions, with the next highest number being five at the University of Cincinnati. Miami also has the highest percentage of students in Greek organizations, with nearly a quarter of the student population in a fraternity or sorority.

In comparison, The Ohio State University has more fraternities -- 65 to Miami's 51 -- but only 8 percent of its student population is in a Greek organization.

Miami has seen a number of high-profile fraternity suspensions and closures in recent years. The founding chapter of the Beta Theta Pi fraternity was closed last week after parallel investigations by the fraternity's national organization and Miami University revealed allegations of hazing and alcohol abuse.

Alcohol was cited as a contributing factor in all but two of Miami's nine suspensions/closures. The two that weren't came about in 2010 when Miami suspended Sigma Alpha Epsilon and Phi Kappa Tau following a fireworks battle between the frat houses that led police to find a large cache of illegal drugs.

Hazing is common and continues to be problematic on American campuses. A 2008 University of Maine study found that 55 percent of students who join fraternities, sororities, sports teams or other student groups experience it. Hazing can include alcohol consumption, humiliation, isolation, sleep deprivation and sexual acts, among other things. There have been dozens of hazing-related deaths, nationally, with 82 percent of them involving alcohol, according to the National Collaborative for Hazing Research and Prevention.

Miami officials maintain that in recent years the university has taken strong action against fraternities that violate the code of conduct. In fact, the closing of Beta Theta Pi surprised some on campus. According to the office of Ethics and Student Conflict Resolution, Beta Theta Pi was one of the top 10 fraternities academically.

"I think the overall reaction from the students has been (they are) pretty shocked. I think that from the students' perspective, Beta is one of our organizations that has done all the right things and has been an award-winning chapter on our campus and nationally," said Jenny Levering, Miami's director of Greek life and leadership. "They understand when it comes to hazing, the university and the national (Beta) organization take strong stances against that."

And in recent years, Miami has made changes in its fraternity/sorority policies, she said.

"Over the last three years, we've had a pretty comprehensive move to more values-based initiatives through our fraternity and sorority community," Levering said. "A result of that was a new social policy for fraternities and sororities on campus for all their social events. All their social events are registered through our governing councils, they have to be approved by advisors and alumni, they have to have a certain amount of risk-management liaisons present at their events."

That liaison is a "student/peer monitor who is socially responsible, who looks over the event and manages the event."

"We've also, over the last couple of years, had a lot of enforcement and education around hazing. So we have an anti-hazing program every semester, (and) we've got an anti-hazing committee," Levering said.

Student reaction

Samuel Crockett, a Miami student who is the president of the university's Inter-Fraternity Council, said, "It's always unfortunate when the actions of a few affect many and put a reputation on a lot of chapters and a lot of people in our community that really follow our guidelines and follow our values as best they can. There are a lot of very successful chapters, and those are the majority of the ones here."

Sorority and fraternity members tallied 19,694 hours of community service last year, according to the university, and their mean GPA of 3.19 slightly surpasses that of Miami's non-Greek student population.

Incidents like the Beta closure "shock the (Greek) community because we consider ourselves to be leaders. We like to be a role model and set a good example. It's unfortunate when not everyone is able to do that," Crockett said.

The fact that Miami has had more suspensions and closures can be interpreted two ways, Crockett said. It could be seen as a behavior problem, but it could also be seen that the university is serious about dealing with fraternity/sorority misconduct.

"We're really trying to change culture. We're trying to change the image of ourselves," he said. "With that, sometimes you have to lay down the hammer, so to speak. We're not out to get chapters at all, but when you have chapters that aren't in line with your values, unfortunately you have to take the action."

Philip Whitford, a member of the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity, said that organization was one of the first to ban hazing, back in 1972.

"We've gotten rid of the term 'pledge,' and now we use 'associate members' because we think pledge is a form of hazing," Whitford said. "It's good to see when people do break that, it's taken very seriously by the university and the Greek system."

On the other hand, Jordy Alan, a junior at Miami, called the closure of Beta Theta Pi "typical," referring to the number of Greek organizations shut down in the past five years.

"A lot of parents probably have a worse image, and they don't want to send their kids here," Alan said. "But kids like it a little bit more ... it's kind of half-and-half."

Another student said he was "pretty happy" about Beta's closure.

"I think it's good that they finally drew the line. It sets an example for other fraternities that you can't put up with it," said Miami senior Jay Streitin.

Gina Keucher, the assistant director of student activities at Wright State University, said that Greek organizations do not deserve their reputations as people who care more about partying and drinking than anything else.

"In the past two years our community has raised over $52,000 for charitable organizations ranging from Autism Speaks, Prevent Child Abuse America, and local organizations, including Dayton Children's Hospital and the Ronald McDonald house. They have also performed approximately 5,000 hours a year of service," she said. "We are proud of our collaborative relationship with the WSU Men's Soccer Team, and the event that we sponsor each year that raises money for Ally's Army, to help families in the Dayton Area with children battling leukemia and lymphoma."

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