Weekly Briefing: An End to Fraternities as We Know Them?

Across the country, students are protesting the brotherhoods. Is this time any different? ADVERTISEMENT [Academe Today Logo]( Did someone forward you this newsletter? [Sign up free]( to receive your own copy. Is this the end of fraternities? Higher ed, like many industries, is cyclical. In 2015, The Chronicle reported a story with the headline, “[Do Fraternities Have a Place on the Modern Campus?]( This fall semester, students at nearly 20 colleges protested what they describe as a culture of drug abuse and sexual assault at fraternity parities. Students aren’t only calling for changes. This time they want individual fraternity chapters shuttered or their campus’s entire sorority and frat system completely shut down. These are big asks and sustained protests, but it’s unclear if this movement will be different from the last. Usually the cycle goes like this: A student dies at a fraternity event, or students raise concerns about a sexual assault or racist incidents; then college leaders vow to take action. Administrators investigate the incident, and the offending chapter is banned for a few years, or sometimes permanently. The attention fades, and a couple years later, another incident starts the cycle again. Meanwhile, the national sentiment has become less tolerant of fraternity misbehavior. In 2017, after Timothy Piazza, a Pennsylvania State University student, died after falling down stairs in a fraternity house, President Eric J. Barron of Penn State [warned]( that if campus chapters did not improve they could see “the end of Greek life at Penn State.” Barron and other college presidents began to publish “scorecards” to document fraternity chapters’ misconduct, academic outcomes, and community-service hours. In Louisiana, Pennsylvania, and a few other states, laws were passed to increase the criminal punishments for students who committed hazing. Other institutions kept a closer eye on the organizations by requiring more trainings to prevent sexual misconduct and dangerous hazing, and by conducting more spot checks at parties. But some took issue with the increased oversight, and some fraternities have cut ties with their institutions. [Experts on campus life]( say that the resulting “underground” fraternities are dangerous because they lack institutional oversight. In recent weeks, student activists show no signs of stopping their protests, and are asking for reforms or the end of fraternities. The demonstrations have mostly been peaceful. At the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, however, a protest turned violent when people flipped over a car and shattered windows. The outrage was directed toward a fraternity after someone posted an anonymous assault accusation against the chapter on social media. The accusation has not been reported to the university. In this cyclical issue, I’m still asking the same question: Is this time any different? [Read our Sarah Brown’s full story here](. SPONSOR CONTENT | LONDON METROPOLITAN UNIVERSITY [The future of US-UK relations in the balance.]( ADVERTISEMENT Lagniappe - Learn. How will life change with increased climate disasters? [More traffic accidents](. (The New York Times) - Read. Nearly everyone on the internet is talking about the “bad art friend” story (probably because I sent it to all my friends). If you haven’t read it, [now is the time](. (The New York Times Magazine) - Listen. The podcast [9/12]( is about what happened after 9/11. (Art19) - Watch. A simple question can produce plenty of interesting answers. [In this video]( the man behind the camera asks New Yorkers, “What song are you listening to?” (YouTube) —Fernanda SUBSCRIBE TO THE CHRONICLE Enjoying the newsletter? [Subscribe today]( for unlimited access to essential news, analysis, and advice. Chronicle Top Reads FINANCIAL TROUBLES [The Board, the President, and the Whistle-Blower]( By Eric Kelderman [STORY IMAGE]( How a financial crisis at a small university became one of the state’s biggest scandals. SPONSOR CONTENT | ets toefl [Improving International Recruitment Efforts]( Learn how the new TOEFL Essentials test provides international students with additional options to showcase their English-language skills to institutions worldwide. EMERGING FROM THE PANDEMIC [Higher Ed’s Rocky Reboot]( By Lindsay Ellis [STORY IMAGE]( Stretched supply chains and short-staffed campuses have left students hungry and parents angry. DATA [Students Are Poised to Protest. Are Colleges Prepared?]( By Audrey Williams June [STORY IMAGE]( Campus protests and polarization were seen as the lowest-priority issue among senior administrators in a new survey. ADVERTISEMENT FROM THE CHRONICLE STORE [Today's Mission Critical Campus Jobs]( Explore how key campus positions are growing in strategic importance compared to how they have traditionally functioned, why they've recently grown more essential, and how they're continuing to evolve. [Order your copy today.]( JOB OPPORTUNITIES Apply for the top jobs in higher education and [search all our open positions](. NEWSLETTER FEEDBACK What did you think of today’s newsletter? [Strongly disliked]( | [It was ok]( | [Loved it]( This newsletter was sent to {EMAIL}. [Read this newsletter on the web](. [Manage]( your newsletter preferences, [stop receiving]( this email, or [view]( our privacy policy. © 2021 [The Chronicle of Higher Education]( 1255 23rd Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20037