Beta Theta Pi permanently banned from campus and harsh new restrictions placed on Greek life
Only licensed bartenders will be allowed at socials and only beer and wine may be served
It’s been a rough year for Greek life at Penn State. Following the death of sophomore Timothy Piazza, Penn State shut down Greek life. In the meantime, an ongoing investigation has turned up further evidence of misconduct by Penn State fraternity Beta Theta Pi, prompting the permanent ban of the fraternity from the university.
Beyond revoking recognition of Beta Theta Pi, the investigation has prompted authorities to announce new restrictions on Greek Life. ” Today, Penn State is drawing a line and imposing critical changes. Enough is enough,” said Damon Sims, head of Student Affairs at Penn State.
The restrictions include the following:
- Rush will be pushed to the spring semester for the upcoming academic year. Students who rush must be enrolled as full-time students, and only allowing sophomores and above to rush is being considered. Even more, limiting the amount of students allowed in a membership class is on the table.
- Only licensed bartenders may serve alcohol at social events. Underage drinking is strongly prohibited and only beer and wine may be served. No kegs.
- Social events may not go over capacity. Daylongs are no longer allowed. A total of 10 socials is allowed, a drastic drop from the current 45 limit imposed by the IFC.
- Should underage drinking continue at socials in spite of these new regulations, the University may declare the system dry.
- A new monitoring protocol consisting of Penn State students and staff will enforce these regulations.
- Further education to prevent hazing will occur. Should hazing occur, especially hazing that involves alcohol or physical abuse, fraternities and sororities face likely loss of University recognition.
Safe to say that Penn State is cracking down on Greek life. The real question is whether or not these new regulations will work.