University of Missouri by David Hinkle via Unsplash.com
This past week the University of Missouri, Columbia campus suspended all fraternity activity after a freshman was found unresponsive at a fraternity party. The school’s administration and Interfraternity Council (IFC) made the decision together.
“We decided in tandem to put a halt on all fraternity activity, so that we can review the practices and the policies that are in place to ensure safety for all of those activities,” said University of Missouri spokesperson, Christian Basi.
Basi continued, “Whenever we have a situation where we feel that a student’s health and well-being is threatened, we’re going to take action immediately and we’ve done that here.”
The University withdrew its recognition for its Phi Gamma Delta chapter, commonly referred to as FIJI. The chapter has five days to appeal the decision. The chapter is also facing an internal investigation by the international headquarters of the fraternity. The student in question was a member of the FIJI chapter and was still in critical condition as of Oct. 29.
This is the third violation by the fraternity in the last year. The first was a hazing incident in April, the second a drinking violation this past August.
On Friday, Oct. 29, the offices of Greek Life at University of Missouri lifted the sanctions on new member education and social events. Coinciding with the lift of the suspension was new social event guidelines from the IFC leadership. The guidelines call for fraternity leadership across campus to meet with the leadership of IFC and discuss risk management before any event. Each chapter must also update its incident response plan and risk management plans.