In the last few weeks, during which rush wound down, two fraternities have been placed on emergency suspension by the Dean of Students Office, and a third is under investigation—mostly because of allegations of “blatant disregard” for alcohol policies, according to Dean of Students Mark Smith. Since the investigation is ongoing, however, neither Smith nor Interfraternity Council President Kumar Jambunathan would provide any details on the nature of the incidents that took place.
On Wednesday, September 14, Jessica Wickiewicz, the new assistant dean of students for greek affairs, called a mandatory meeting to “discuss conflict in rush and recruitment activities.” During this meeting, Wickiewicz indicated that “the use of alcohol is running rampant though the system.” At the time, two fraternities were under emergency suspension, while five more were under investigation. The Troy Police were not involved, however, and all the investigations that are ongoing are taking place via interviews conducted by DOSO.
When civil authorities such as the Troy Police or the Rensselaer County Underage Drinking Task Force become involved, however, the fraternity or sorority president is generally arrested and the event disbanded, according to Smith. When Public Safety responds, the event is disbanded and the organization as a whole is held liable for their actions to the Institute’s judicial system—consisting, at least in part, of students. Smith also indicated the Underage Drinking Task Force would likely be resuming its operations fairly soon.
According to Smith, DOSO’s general policy with penalties in such matters tends toward holding the organization responsible, rather than individuals, though Smith indicated that there is a tendency of those responsible to “hide behind their organization” to avoid personal penalty.
Siena College, in nearby Loudonville, chose to go a bit further—at least for a while—and enacted a new rule that does not allow students to consume any beverage whatsoever outside of dining halls or their dorm rooms. This policy was apparently intended to prevent alcohol consumption and to prevent students from gathering in large groups. After extensive coverage by many media outlets, Siena chose to roll back the ban to containers of alcoholic beverages only.
Following the suspensions here, the IFC met and received reports that Public Safety officers improperly entered private fraternity property in violation of the greek relationship statement, which requires officials to have a chapter member present in such a situation. In the past, some fraternities have hired off-duty Troy police officers to protect their property from Public Safety, however, Jambunathan indicated that none are currently doing so. Smith indicated that for the most part, Public Safety was simply responding to resident complaints of disturbances, rather than canvassing the neighborhood looking for an unruly event.
Following the IFC meeting, the IFC Executive Board met with Lt. Ruth Vibert of Public Safety, who indicated that she herself was in a sorority when she was in college, and the officers were possibly recent hires and not aware of student rights and responsibilities as they exist at RPI. The IFC E-Board indicated that they would meet with Vibert again, however, as they needed to gather the exact dates and times for when the incidents occurred in order to have an internal Public Safety inquiry to take place.
Jambunathan said that despite some of the problems encountered in the past few weeks, the majority of allegations against greek organizations have been dropped. He added that rush had concluded without incident, save for a group of seemingly anti-greek freshman on the third floor of Crockett Hall that made dorm-storming especially trying.
