The Interfraternity Council officially added two amendments to the IFC Standards’ constitution in an attempt to hold fraternities more accountable for their actions.
In order to combat unruly fraternity behavior, IFC President Ryan Zuckerman said he is taking precautions by approving these amendments.
“The idea behind these standards is to be proactive in responding to issues while attempting to reduce the amount of chapters that visit the Student Organization Ethics Board each year,” he said.
According to the first of these amendments, sanctions may only be placed by the IFC Standards Board on individual fraternities after said fraternity has organized a formal hearing with the IFC Standards Board.
Fines, loss of eligibility for Greek-related awards, public service, social probation and suspension are examples of sanctions which IFC Standards Board can now place on chapters.
If a chapter fails to comply with the sanction, a formal hearing will take place with the vice president of standards Thomas McDonald, as well as IU Department of Student Life and Learning, at a second hearing. Further actions would be discussed at this hearing.
According to the second amendment added to the IFC Constitution, chapters can appeal any of the sanctions placed upon them by the IFC Standards Board.
Chapter presidents can notify McDonald of their intention to appeal within 48 hours of the sanction being placed.The chapter president, as well as two additional chapter members, can present a case to the IFC Appeal Committee.
Afterward, the IFC Appeal Committee will send their approval or denial to the appeal within 48 hours of the hearing.
Given the suspension of Phi Kappa Psi and the revoking of Alpha Tau Omega’s charter, McDonald said he would like to improve the reputation for Greek life.
“We represent a large amount of members of the University,” he said. “So I think it’s really important that as an entire Greek community, we start holding each other accountable.”
Referring to fraternities and sororities as “values-based organizations,” Zuckerman said the rise in negative coverage for Greek communities is due to chapters not taking responsibility for their actions. He denies any relation between the events with ATO and Phi Psi and the new amendments.
“While the update to the policies is not directly connected to Alpha Tau Omega or Phi Kappa Psi, both situations simply support the conclusion that the community is not adequately taking accountability,” he said.
Public awareness of these sort of affairs are increasing, McDonald said, on account of numerous “societal flaws,” as well as an increased use of social media.
By “societal flaws,” he said he is specifically referring to the double-standard the media has against the heinous actions of fraternities and sororities.
There wouldn’t be as much media coverage, he said, if a sexual assault occurred in an apartment complex, as opposed to a fraternity or sorority. He said this is so because it’s “easier to point the finger at an organization than an individual.”
Zuckerman said he believes IFC and the University are now taking the proper actions to combat these controversies from occurring as often in the future.
Despite this, McDonald warned the chapters that the amendments can only make a difference in the Greek community if the community cooperates.
“The University can only do so much,” he said. “It’s really up to the individual chapters to make the difference.”
