The Cornell Daily Sun (https://cornellsun.com/tag/greek-life/page/6/)
We further commend you for creating a culture of fear and repression where the very people you subjugate dare not speak out lest you unleash a midnight raid on their house in search of Keystone Light contraband.
If you see something, say something. If you hear something, say something. According to The Sun’s reporting, the parents of Antonio Tsialas ’23 are suing Cornell University, the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity and individuals. Cornellians who know information — but are willingly hiding that information from law enforcement — are sinning against the parents, siblings and friends of Tsialas. Cease the all-too-Cornellian habit of selfishness.
A month-long winter break has come and passed. Still, after having just completed this year’s first rush cycle, the state of Greek life at Cornell and new University policies on Greek events remain some of the most contentious issues on campus. However, this isn’t the first time that the Greek system at Cornell has been at the center of controversy. Some of the first major complaints about dirty rushing were filed around 1915, to which the IFC responded with a Barnes Hall trial of the accused fraternities. Why are we – a century later – still grappling with the same question of how to curb misbehavior in Greek communities?
Few people would argue that the social scene on this campus is doing fine. Even fewer would say that the Greek Life that existed on this campus 12 months ago was a healthy system. It is clear that reform is necessary. It is urgent. And it needs to come from the adults paid to unearth them — not patched together on the backs of college students without the institutional knowledge, experience or mental bandwidth to reform them.
President Martha Pollack and Ryan Lombardi, Vice President for Campus Life, address concerns raised by the Student Assembly about Greek Life restrictions at Thursday night meeting.
The Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life rolled out a slate of new regulations for Greek life, which include restricting events to four days per week, requiring catering services for all alcohol served and limiting co-sponsors on approved events.
Greek life is one of the oldest and most controversial systems at Cornell. The current structure of Greek life that we’re familiar with has been decades in the making, and in this week’s Solar Flashback, we wanted to take a look back at some of the most significant policy changes involving social Greek organizations. As Greek life reforms come into the spotlight once again, it’s important to understand its history in order to gain insights for future change.
Pollack said she appreciated the temporary steps made by the Interfraternity and Panhellenic Councils — which included a pause on social events and some reforms — but that she would fulfill her responsibility to protect student health and safety.
The Interfraternity Council’s most recent resolution targets “dirty rushing,” or the unpermitted recruitment of first-year students. In the past, most houses did partake in dirty rushing, IFC president Cristian Gonzalez ’20 said.
President Martha Pollack told The Sun that the fraternity had apparently hosted an unregistered, “dirty rush” party on Oct. 24, meaning the event was held to recruit first-year students outside of the policies within which fraternities are allowed to do so.