Columns

GUEST ROOM | The Shame of the Greek System

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Why are these organizations tolerated by universities? We know from studies that alcohol abuse is more common among those belonging to the Greek system than among other students and that membership in residential Greek organizations is associated with binge drinking and marijuana usage through midlife. As if that was not bad enough, a recent New York Times article on the University of Alabama’s sorority rush highlighted the superficiality and frivolity of this system and the significant cost in dollars that membership entails.

Columns

KEMPFF | Professional Orgs Haze Too 

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Business organizations often host social events, many of them with a heavy drinking influence. Unlike fraternities and sororities, which follow strict event registration rules, these clubs operate as they choose. I’ve personally witnessed binge drinking and unsafe conditions at the hands of these organizations.

Opinion

GUEST ROOM | Hazing and Its Prevention: Shut It Down

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Hazing can be deadly. On Nov. 2, the Piazza, Gruver and Braham families shared the tragic stories of their sons’ deaths due to fraternity hazing with a full house of students in Bailey Hall. Their presentation “Love, Mom and Dad” was the keynote at the A.D. White Annual Summit for Sorority and Fraternity Life. The stories shared and their grief were an emotional gut punch, reminding me of the tragic death of George Desdunes in 2011 and Cornell’s slow progress rooting out hazing.