Chapter Closings/Hazing and Alcohol

[DeltAlum]

I strongly urge that you all read this entire story from Digest 99 of Fraternal News because it also covers a number of good points about the Greek system including high GPA's, philanthropy and future benefits of Greek membership. While it centers on the University of Michigan, it also touches on other schools in the Big Ten.

Unfortunately, the crux of the story is about the following from the Detroit Free Press:


"In the last 10 years, 10 U-M fraternities have closed because of violations related to alcohol and hazing, and 10 more have closed because of low membership. Four sororities have closed because of low membership, and two have closed as a result of hazing violations in the same period, according to U-M data.

"We need to re-evaluate where our social environment is going," said Hustvedt, president of U-M's Interfraternity Council and a member of Theta Chi fraternity, which will become the fifth alcohol-free chapter on campus in January.

But Hustvedt, 22, of Concord, Mass., knows it's not easy to change a decades-old tradition.

A 1999 study by U-M's Substance Abuse Research Center found that 76 percent of U-M students living in fraternity or sorority houses had engaged in binge drinking within a two-week period, compared with 62 percent of students living in residence halls."

Some other comments:

The number of chapters closed because of alcohol and hazing is staggering. The overall closing figure is worse -- twenty-six in ten years.

The Michigan study on binge drinking roughly parallels other studies on the subject I've seen -- confirming that this isn't just a Greek probem, but that it is substantially more serious in the Greek Community.

Delt Alum