Iowa Greek life bans events involving alcohol following student death
A freshman student died while on a Greek formal yesterday
University of Iowa Fraternity and Sorority Life released an official statement regarding events involving alcohol to the Greek community earlier this morning.
The statement notifies the community that a ban on all Greek events involving alcohol will be prohibited until further notice, effective immediately. An immediate and permanent ban on all out-of-town formals was also mentioned in the statement.
The ban was put in place in light of a recent event in which freshman University of Iowa student and fraternity member Kamil Jackowski died Sunday morning. Jackowski, of Arlington Heights, Illinois, was found on the morning of Sunday April 30 while attending Sigma Chi formal at Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri.
The full statement reads:
To the University of Iowa and Interfraternal community:
May 1, 2017 – This weekend we lost a member of Iowa’s Fraternity and Sorority Life community. We are deeply saddened by the loss of a brother, and send our thoughts to his family, the entire Sigma Chi chapter, and others affected by his death. His friendship will be missed by all who knew him.
In light of this and other recent events in our community, we are writing today to announce an immediate ban on all Panhellenic and Interfraternity Council events with alcohol. This moratorium is effective as of May 1, 2017 and will continue until further notice. Additionally, we are announcing an immediate and permanent ban on all out-of-town formals. In the coming days, we will work through the specifics of this policy in partnership with University of Iowa administration and will communicate it to chapter leaders.
These bans are not to be seen as a punishment. Rather, they are an acknowledgement that we must address the pervasive and dangerous alcohol culture that exists within our community. The ban on all FSL events with alcohol will exist until we have time to work together as a community and with university administration to devise solutions to make our events safer. In conjunction with these immediate actions, we will also convene a taskforce on alcohol culture in the FSL community with campus and community stakeholders this fall. It is evident that we must band together as a community in this moment and demand improvement for the safety and wellbeing of our members.
Conversations about the need to address the dangers of out-of-town formals have occurred, but it is more evident now than ever that we must move beyond discussion and into action—the future of our community depends on it. We appreciate your understanding and look forward to your involvement in these important discussion in the days, weeks, and months to come.
The statement is signed by the Interfraternity and Panhellenic Council Presidents Zachary Rubenbauer and Anna Long.
As always, those struggling with this loss of a member of the University of Iowa community are encouraged to reach out to University Counseling Services at (319) 335-7294 for assistance.
Students and community members are also encouraged to contact the Interfraternity and Panhellenic Council Presidents for more information. The Interfraternity Council President, Zachary Rubenbauer, can be reached at [email protected]. The Panhellenic Council President, Anna Long, can be reached at [email protected].
Our thoughts are with the Jackowski family and all those affected by Kamil’s death.
More to follow.