The Cornell Daily Sun (https://cornellsun.com/tag/interfraternity_council/)
The Sigma Phi fraternity will operate under a deferred suspension until the end of the fall 2023 semester because an investigation by the Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards found that they had violated Cornell’s policy against hazing.
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.
Due to investigations of misconduct, the administration has banned four Interfraternity Council chapters from recruiting new members during this semester’s rush process.
The changes attempt to reform many of fraternities’ traditional spring recruitment practices, which the Interfraternity Council president called “laissez-faire.”
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.
Cornell’s Interfraternity Council canceled nearly all regulated fraternity events for the rest of the fall semester Friday night, citing safety concerns. The ban — which will run until Jan. 1, 2020 — cited recent events as a catalyst which had made “inherent safety hazards” apparent within the existing Greek life social system.
How do we create institutional change? At a University that has existed since 1865, we fall victim to systemic problems that persisted since long before the conception of Cornell. When evaluating the campus problems we seek solutions for — issues that affect one, many or all Cornellians — the sheer length of the list makes taking action seem overwhelming and unachievable. But what if we take one of the institutional problems we are facing and put forth a conversation and some action items to begin to tackle it? Many organizations on this campus, like Cornell Minds Matter, are champions of this approach and are creating positive institutional change.
Due to a winter storm that struck the greater Tompkins area Saturday night, Cornell University’s Panhellenic Council and Interfraternity Council had to make changes to their recruitment timelines, including pushing recruitment timelines back a week.
The group’s main focus is to establish formal communication among the fraternities and to create a set of standards and best practices for all participating fraternities to follow.
Recruitment for fraternities at Cornell has dwindled over the past seven years — with only around 600 students registered last year. However, the IFC found that this year encompassed one of the most diverse groups of students.