Committee threatens ban on Greek organizations

In April 2010, President Shirley Tilghman told The Daily Princetonian that she would be “absolutely willing to have a conversation” about recognizing Greek organizations who made the concession to voluntarily delay rush until sophomore year.

Nearly two years later, the University has banned freshman rush, but the conversation about the unrecognized status of fraternities and sororities has swung in the opposite direction.

The report of the Committee on Freshmen Rush Policy, which was released on Sunday afternoon, included what was effectively a threat to ban fraternities and sororities if there was not widespread compliance with the new prohibition on freshman rush. The report said that Tilghman explained that violations of the policy banning freshman affiliation would lead the University to reduce its tolerance of sophomore, junior and senior affiliation.

In an interview following a meeting of the Council of the Princeton University Community held on Monday afternoon, Tilghman attributed the reversal in the University’s attitude toward potential recognition to the “unwillingness of the groups to even consider the possibility of moving it even to spring, much less to sophomore year,” she said.

While Tilghman said there is no set number of violations that would lead the administration to consider banning Greek organizations altogether, she said that a single violation certainly would not be enough to lead the University to change its policy of non-recognition towards fraternities and sororities.

“By the end of the year we will have a reasonable sense of whether this policy is being adhered to or whether students are trying to find workarounds to the policy,” Tilghman said.

Tilghman also noted that some University leaders had hoped for more severe treatment of Greek organizations.

“The reason I said that in the report is that there are members of our Board of Trustees who were disappointed that this policy was so mild and were really hoping that what we would do was ban these organizations completely,” Tilghman said. “That is going to be there in the background as students try and think through whether they are going to be consistent with this policy or not.”

Though the report devoted a significant amount of attention to defining what exact activities and events are prohibited under the ban, some questions as to what exactly constitutes a violation still remain.

Dean of Undergraduate Students Kathleen Deignan, who chaired the committee, presented the report at the CPUC meeting. After summarizing the main findings of the report, one student asked Deignan what structures, short of a full list of Greek-affiliated students, are in place to help Public Safety assess whether a party or event they respond to is a fraternity or sorority party or not.

“Sometimes Public Safety arrives and it’s very clear from what’s happening at the party,” Deignan said, noting that officers can often tell because students are wearing a certain type of costume or pledge pins. She said that Public Safety will not be going from party to party trying to find Greek-sponsored events, but rather will respond to reports or noise complaints and make assessments as normal.

“I’m sure Public Safety responds to a number of parties out there that may well be Greek parties that just get reported as a too-loud party, and residents of XYZ room get in trouble for disturbing the peace or whatever,” Deignan told the ‘Prince’ after the CPUC meeting. “If there’s other evidence to suggest that this is fraternity or sorority activity and freshmen are present then I think it’s something to take very seriously.”

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The report was clear in prohibiting freshman attendance at formal and semiformal events held by fraternities and sororities while also explicitly stating that the policy will not interfere with informal interactions between freshmen and affiliated upperclassmen. But there still exists some gray area, such as casual gatherings in rooms of fraternity and sorority members when freshmen are present.

Deignan said these get-togethers could be considered a fraternity or sorority event if it is “sponsored” by a Greek organization. If, for example, food and beverages at a small dorm room gathering were purchased by the Greek organization, it would be considered a fraternity and sorority event, she explained. But on the other hand, if the items were purchased by individuals with money from their own pockets, it may not be considered to be sponsored by the Greek organization.

Deignan said the administration has numerous ways to determine whether an event is Greek-sponsored or not.

“We’d certainly ask, sometimes people give us information, emails are errantly sent — you’d be surprised how pieces of information emerge,” Deignan said after her presentation. “It would absolutely make a difference if the fraternity treasury bought all the food and drink for the party. I think most reasonable people would say either fraud is going on or there’s a fraternity sponsorship to this event,” she explained.

Tilghman ended the discussion of the committee’s recommendations after three questions, as Tilghman noted that the CPUC meeting had already gone late. There will be an open forum to discuss the rush ban at 3 p.m. on Monday, April 2 at Frist Campus Center. Deignan also encouraged students to submit feedback through the committee’s website.