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It bugs me that all the news articles I've seen keep referring to this action as a "ban". Bans are permanent, suspensions are temporary. This is certainly a suspension rather than a ban, but the word ban is snappier and more sensational, I suppose.
I don't think it's fair to the multicultural and NPHC groups who had nothing to do with this action-how does telling them they can't host probates or perform community service help them learn from the behavior of a group they aren't associated with?
FWIW, I was at Clemson when a suspension of Greek Life was instituted following Tucker Hipps' death. I think it could have been a powerful educational moment for us had the university made an effort to communicate why we, as sorority members, were complicit in a system that treated pledges of IFC fraternities poorly, but no one ever had that conversation with us. There was no learning moment; instead we were simply left in the dark. I remember sisters saying "this has nothing to do with us, why are we involved?" and agreeing because I couldn't see how we fit in the bigger picture.
I hope that FSU does not miss this chance for difficult conversations with chapter leaders across all councils moving forward.
Editing to add more thoughts: how will supervision of 54 fraternities and sororities' chapter meetings work with four full-time Greek life staff members and two graduate assistants? Also, when Clemson's suspension went into effect the fraternities were told they had to initiate their new members with the supervision of national organizations. They lied and said they had, because they didn't want to initiate their new members yet, and with knowledge from the national organizations that they were doing this. Ultimately, I think a ban of this magnitude is going to damage the trust between national HQs and FSU a lot more than it will educate the members of the chapters.
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