Editor’s note: This story includes mention of sexual violence or assault. Resources are available here.
All opinions, columns and letters reflect the views of the individual writer and not necessarily those of the IDS or its staffers.
When Jeanne Clery was looking to attend college in fall 1985, there were no statistics about crimes on university campuses. She decided on Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. A few days after Jeanne returned from spring break in 1986, the 19-year-old freshman was asleep in her room when a sophomore student, who did not live in the building, entered her dorm through a series of three doors that had been propped open by pizza boxes.
Whatever you’re imagining happened next, it’s worse.
It was only after Jeanne’s rape and murder that her family learned there had been 38 violent crimes, including rapes, robberies and assaults, on the Lehigh campus in the three years prior to her death. The family then sued Lehigh for $25 million, alleging university officials “knew of the escalating crime rate and knew the dorm doors were being propped open but didn’t take action.” The family and the university settled for a private amount.
In response, Congress passed the Jeanne Clery Act in 1990, requiring federally-funded colleges to record and publicly report campus crime data and safety policies. To adhere to the Clery Act, IU must disclose crime in a variety of ways, including a daily crime log. The public log includes the date, time, nature and general location of each crime reported within the past 60 days.
Jeanne is the reason IU students receive an email or a text when certain crimes considered “serious,” or to be a “continuing threat,” are committed on campus.
Prior to the fall 2021 semester, Indiana University included the general location of a reported sexual assault in its public daily crime log, such as identifying one of the more than 20 campus residence halls or 40 Greek chapter houses. However, The Herald-Times reported later that semester IUPD had largely reported locations under three broad categories: “on-campus residential,” “all other fraternity/sorority” and “all other campus buildings.”
By the end of the fall 2021 semester, IU saw more rapes reported to IUPD than it normally sees in an entire year, including a “string of sexual assaults at fraternity houses,” one report from Fox 59 stated. To address this, all Greek activities were suspended indefinitely, only to be resumed a short time later. Unfortunately, the numbers have clearly shown that didn’t solve the problem.
During spring this year, a number of illegal actions by fraternities occurred. Beta Sigma Psi was placed on cease and desist Feb. 28 for alcohol and endangering others after IUPD reported three incidents of aggravated battery and underage drinking at the fraternity that same day. The chapter was already on elevated disciplinary probation from Aug. 23, 2024, to Dec. 31, 2025, for alcohol, controlled substances, endangering others, hazing, sexual harassment and lewd conduct.
Sigma Chi was placed on cease and desist in November 2024 for hazing. Alpha Kappa Lambda entered a similar agreement Feb. 27 to April 10, 2025, to resolve an alcohol-related violation.
The Interfraternity Council and Panhellenic Association’s response to these abuses? A less than three week pause on social events. Frankly, it’s pathetic.
Last week alone, two fraternities, Alpha Epsilon Pi and Phi Kappa Psi, were placed on cease and desist following hazing incidents that hospitalized at least two people and resulted in at least three people needing medical attention, respectively. In response, IU suspended their organizational activities.
The problem with suspensions and cease and desists is that they take place only after students have been assaulted or hospitalized. Where are the proactive measures to protect students before this happens? How long will this cycle repeat itself before we see real change?
IU students deserve better; clearly, placing these fraternities on cease and desist does nothing to address the heart of the problem. By establishing and enforcing meaningful repercussions, IU could set a clear tone on sexual assault and endangering students.
To give credit where credit is due, IU takes proactive measures seriously. All first-year, transfer, and incoming international undergraduate students must complete a series of prevention education online courses, including "Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Training" within their first semester. Additionally, first-year and transfer students must attend an in-person "It's On Us: Bystander Intervention Workshop." Students in Greek Life are required to complete specific training modules, which may include the Prospective Member Orientation and Event Monitor Training.
These are important, but if there is no meaningful follow-up when fraternities violate IU policy, these required trainings are reduced to busy work for incoming students. Education alone can’t change a culture that lacks accountability; until IU consistently enforces consequences to address deeper issues within Greek life, required prevention programs will remain symbolic rather than substantive.
The fact that repeat offenders like Sigma Chi were placed on suspension June 13, 2025, for “dishonest conduct, endangering others, hazing, and physical abuse”, less than a year after being put on cease and desist in November 2024 for the same violations, shows just how ineffective these temporary measures are.
Clearly, putting these fraternities on cease and desist isn't preventing them from endangering students. Real accountability would mean stronger, lasting consequences, such as expelling chapters, increased oversight of social events and transparent reporting of violations.
Right now, we are in a period on college campuses known as the Red Zone, a time of “statistically heightened instances of sexual assault that happens during the first semester of college,” The “Red Zone” spans the start of the fall semester through Thanksgiving break when more than half of all college sexual assaults are occur.
The degree to which IU protects students against sexual assault and endangerment is directly impacted by this administration’s willingness to hold accountable organizations that consistently and flagrantly disregard student safety. IU’s refusal to act leaves so many students, especially women, vulnerable at the exact time we are most at risk. History is repeating itself, and the IU administration is failing the open book test.
Ainsley Foster (she/her) is a senior studying elementary education.
