Protesters at Northwestern University are demanding that the school “abolish Greek life” after reports that students were allegedly drugged without their consent at fraternity houses this fall.
The protests this week lambasting Greek life at Northwestern are similar to outcries erupting recently at other campuses nationwide, where some students are calling for the dismantling of organizations they blame for fostering a toxic culture that is complicit in crimes against women.
On Saturday, Northwestern officials issued an alert to students about multiple aggravated assault cases involving students who said they were drugged at fraternity houses. The university also announced it was temporarily halting social events and recruitment activities at its fraternities.
One person reported being drugged Friday at a gathering at 2325 Sheridan Road in Evanston, the site of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity, currently in its first year back after a yearslong suspension stemming from conduct the student-run Interfraternity Council in 2017 said made “the Northwestern community less and less safe.”
The alert also said the university was investigating “separate, similar reports it received on Sept. 24,” and noted “both reported locations are on-campus fraternity houses.” It reminded students that on-campus fraternity and sorority houses are alcohol-free spaces.
“Let us be clear: The health, safety and well-being of our students remain our top priority and we are taking these allegations very seriously. We encourage you to seek support from campus resources if you need help processing this news,” said the alert, signed by Bruce Lewis, the university’s police chief, and Mona Dugo, dean of students.
The university also decided to immediately discontinue social events or official recruitment activities at fraternities that are part of the Interfraternity Council until at least Oct. 17. In the statement, school officials said that includes events with nonmembers, such as alumni. It also warned that any individuals or organizations that violate the restriction will be referred to the Office of Community Standards.
“The University has been in communication with IFC leadership, who understand the seriousness of these reports and the importance of the investigations,” it said.
The Interfraternity Council Saturday “unanimously passed a resolution outlining restrictive measures in partnership with the University’s decision, and communicated to the University that they are instituting a ban on all social activities inclusive of recruitment events during this time frame.”
Also in response to the recent allegations, a flyer was circulated on social media for a Sunday night event called the “Abolish Greek life protest,” for which students were encouraged to dress in black and meet outside SAE to “support survivors” and “demand more than temporary punishments.”
A female student in her second year who organized the event, and who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of privacy concerns, said the protest was well attended.
In an email, the student said she was inspired to create the event because she “wanted there to be a space to process this weekend that was sympathetic, open, and allowed students to be angry and grieve. I knew that the university would provide the bare minimum on that front, and I think it provided some catharsis.”
She also said the events that prompted the protest “are not one-off incidents,” and that the entire system needs to be addressed, as in its current form it enables wrongdoing with minimal punishments.
“All the potential benefits of the Greek system do not outweigh the harm it’s done and continues to do, not only in this realm of sexual violence but in discriminatory practices that are baked into the basic structure of fraternities and sororities,” she said.
She also believes these types of crimes go underreported “because the current system does not offer survivors justice or safety.”
In recent years, two houses in the Greek system voted to disband, two closed due to attrition, and six former houses opened as residence halls this fall, Northwestern spokesman Jon Yates said.
In total, the university has 37 Greek organizations, including fraternities and sororities, he said Monday.
“There are no ongoing criminal sexual assault investigations being investigated by the Northwestern University Police Department that were reported to the department this fall,” Yates added.
The recent backlash against Greek life at college campuses, including the University of Iowa, University of Kansas and University of Nebraska, is troubling to officials with the North American Interfraternity Conference, a trade association that represents 57 national and international men’s fraternities, including culturally and religious-based organizations, in the U.S. and Canada.
“We condemn any form of sexual violence or misconduct,” said spokesman Todd Shelton, who on Monday described fraternities as proactive in their efforts to protect students “by requiring educational programming and enforcing stricter health and safety guidelines than applied to non-fraternity students.”
Shelton said the first step to addressing any allegation “should be to report it to the appropriate authorities to ensure a full investigation, due process and accountability for those found responsible for misconduct.”
“Unfortunately, many of these protests are based on unreported, anonymous social media allegations. Additionally, recent vandalism by some protesters is unacceptable,” Shelton said.
Fraternities “foster positive mental health,” offer members “tremendous loyalty and connection among alumni to support their alma mater” and annually raise more than $20 million for philanthropic causes, while performing 3 million volunteer hours in the community, he said.
While the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity at the University of Iowa, known as FIJI, was targeted in recent student protests, Rob Caudill, the organization’s executive director, said Monday the fraternity “does not tolerate sexual violence and takes any allegation very seriously.”
“Our University of Iowa chapter took quick and decisive action in September 2020 to remove two members of the chapter who were alleged to have engaged in sexual misconduct, though no criminal charges were filed by local authorities,” Caudill said. “The chapter also fully cooperated with the University and local police investigations last year.”
“We share in the anger and frustration felt across college campuses that more must be done to stop sexual violence. We all have a responsibility to make college campuses safe for everyone, and Greek organizations want to be part of a solution that must involve many participants — none of us can fix this problem alone,” Caudill said.
The increasingly volatile calls for abolishing fraternities — in Iowa, a mainly peaceful protest also found some in the crowd attempting to break down the door to a frat house — are not surprising to some experts who study Greek life, and who say the resurgence of student activism during the pandemic is now writ large as many universities fully reopen for the first time in 18 months.
“Students are coming to campus energized, and they’re holding their universities accountable,” said Elizabeth Armstrong, the Sherry B. Ortner collegiate professor of sociology at the University of Michigan.
“They’re not waiting for the administration or other folks to script it, they’re doing it themselves, and trying to get ahead of it,” Armstrong said.
While Armstrong said sexual violence on campus is not new, and “has been a long- standing problem for decades,” she said students demanding Greek life be disbanded view their request as imperative to shelving a culture they see as a detriment to creating a safe and inclusive campus.
“Many students see these fraternities as unsafe spaces for women, and unsafe spaces in terms of gender, sex and race,” she said.
At Northwestern, the Interfraternity Council in 2017 suspended the campus chapter of Sigma Alpha Epsilon from its membership until the start of the 2021-22 school year, according to a statement. SAE appealed the decision and was allowed to remain in its campus housing through the end of that school quarter.
SAE members were accused of walking out of a student government meeting where people who said they were victims of assault and others shared concerns about NU fraternity culture, according to the 2017 IFC statement.
The council also stated that SAE hosted social events and recruited new members outside of IFC purview, thus violating rules of the fraternal governing body, according to the statement.
The school statement this weekend said counseling services would be available for anyone who needs assistance. It also asked anyone with information about any of the reports to contact Northwestern University police at 847-491-3456.
Chicago Tribune’s Sylvia Goodman contributed.
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