113 CommentsThe fraternities with members involved in Operation Ivy League—Alpha Epsilon Pi, Pi Kappa Alpha, Psi Upsilon—will lose their housing come next fall, according to Spec. A source in Pike says that Kevin Shollenberger confirmed to the fraternity today that its brownstone will be emptied in the Fall; members of the other frats have said the same.
We’ve contacted the Student Affairs Office and the IGC, and (update) the IRC for comment—stay tuned for updates.
Update (11:28) Student Affairs has released a statement regarding the fraternities. It confirms the three frats will face sanctions, including revocation of Columbia University housing, extended social probation until Fall 2011, and probationary recognition. The probationary status will be reviewed annually for three years, and fraternities will be expected to demonstrate significant progress.
Three years!
Update (12:22) The InterGreek Council has released a statement. Some hightlights:
- The reviews of each individual fraternity were conducted by reflecting on the chapter as a whole and not solely on the basis of the actions of the individuals involved in the NYPD “Operation Ivy League” investigation.
- The University will not conduct the judicial procedures for those individuals involved until outside proceedings are completed. The University will not announce those internal proceedings as they begin, in accordance with federal privacy laws regarding student information.
- The chapters will vacate their houses following the end of the Spring 2011 semester. An application to occupy the three brownstones in question will be released in Fall 2012, and will take into effect in Fall 2013. Criteria for this application have not been determined. In the meantime, the Office of Residential Programs will fill those rooms at their discretion.
We’ve included the full statement after the jump, but beware, it’s pretty lengthy!
“In December, the Division of Student Affairs announced it would begin a review of the fraternities and special interest community that had members arrested in the NYPD drug arrests that took place on campus on December 7, 2010. Although prompted by this specific incident, the review was intended to provide a comprehensive analysis of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity, the Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity, the Psi Upsilon fraternity, and the Intercultural Resource Center (IRC) in all aspects of their operations since 2007. To this end and over the past several weeks, Student Affairs collected information including but not limited to a history of service and philanthropic activities, evidence of contributions to the greater community, Greek Judicial board records, academic and judicial records, and prior incident reports. We engaged with individual students, student leaders, chapter membership, and residents to learn more about each organization’s shared values, mission, and commitment to giving back to the Columbia community.
Throughout the review, it was always our goal to render a fair, impartial decision based on the feedback and information gathered as part of this comprehensive process.
After concluding our assessment, we determined that each of the three fraternities will face sanctions to include revocation of Columbia University housing, extended social probation until Fall 2011, and probationary recognition. The probationary status will be reviewed annually for three years, and fraternities will be expected to demonstrate significant progress.
Each fraternity is also required to submit and subsequently adhere to a three-year action plan for improvement. We have encouraged the fraternities to work with their advisers to help them better their standing within the Columbia University community and work toward exemplifying the core values and standards of their national chapters. Based on the chapters’ records and the information we collected, we are confident this decision is in the best interest of our community and of the fraternities themselves.
Student Affairs is committed to building and sustaining a campus community in which students’ health and well-being are protected and individual students and organizations are held to the highest standards. In our effort to strengthen and better support our fraternity and sorority community, we plan to extend this review process to all fraternities and sororities and look forward to working with students to examine and better define the role of this community on Columbia’s campus. We will use these ongoing conversations as an opportunity to further educate students about how they can be a positive influence on our community and their peers, and operate in the spirit of their national chapters.”
OFFICIAL STATEMENT FROM THE INTERGREEK COUNCIL
MARCH 8, 2011
After conducting an individual, comprehensive review of each of the three fraternities placed on suspension in December 2010, Dean Martinez, Dean of Community Development, and Dean Shollenberger, Associate Dean of Student Development and Activities, have made a final decision regarding the status of those fraternities.
Dean Martinez and Dean Shollenberger met tonight with the presidents of Alpha Epsilon Pi, Pi Kappa Alpha, and Psi Upsilon. After sharing their decision with the presidents of the individual chapters, Dean Martinez and Dean Schollenberger then shared their decision with the InterGreek Council (IGC) Executive Board for the first time.
Alpha Epsilon Pi, Pi Kappa Alpha, and Psi Upsilon have all been placed on 3-year probationary recognition, to be reviewed annually. In addition, each chapter has had their social suspension extended to the end of Spring 2011 and they have lost their housing privileges effective Fall 2011. In fulfilling the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life’s ALPHA Standards of Recognition, which is required of all Greek chapters to be considered in good standing, the IGC firmly believes that these three chapters will be able to meet the standards of their annual reviews.
Dean Martinez, Dean Shollenberger, the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life, and the IGC are all firmly committed to seeing these chapters succeed on the Columbia University campus. This is a time for the Greek community to come together and support each other in upholding our shared values and the IGC will continue to assist these chapters with their programming, development, and activities.
—
The IGC has provided answers to anticipated questions. We have provided as much information as we can while maintaining the integrity of the judicial process at Columbia University.
Q: What did the review process entail?
Dean Martinez conducted her review of each individual fraternity on a chapter level. This review included, but was not limited to, a history of service and philanthropic activities, evidence of contributions to the greater community, Greek Judicial board records, academic and judicial records, and prior incident reports. Student Affairs engaged with individual students, student leaders, chapter membership, and residents to learn more about each organization’s shared values, mission, and commitment to giving back to the Columbia community. The InterGreek Council was not involved in the review process.
Q: Who was responsible for making the decision?
Dean Martinez conducted a comprehensive review of the three fraternities on suspension. She then made recommendations to Dean Shollenberger, and a collective decision was made.
Q: What is happening to the chapter brownstones?
The chapters will vacate their houses following the end of the Spring 2011 semester. An application to occupy the three brownstones in question will be released in Fall 2012, and will take into effect in Fall 2013. Criteria for this application have not been determined. In the meantime, the Office of Residential Programs will fill those rooms at their discretion.
Q: What does this mean for the chapters going forward?
The chapters will remain on social suspension for the remainder of Spring 2011. While they have lost their housing privileges effective Fall 2011, after the expiration of their social suspension at the end of Spring 2011, they will be granted all the privileges afforded to Greek chapters on the Columbia University campus. They will continue to have probationary recognition for the next three years, to be reviewed annually. Dean Shollenberger, Dean Martinez, and the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life are committed to helping these chapters achieve full recognition. In fulfilling the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life’s ALPHA Standards of Excellence, which is required of all Greek chapters to be considered in good standing, the IGC firmly believes that these three chapters will be able to meet the standards of their annual reviews.
Q: What are the ALPHA Standards of Recognition? Discussions with the Greek community about establishing an accreditation system for 2011 began in September of 2010. The Greek community spent the Fall semester working on the Statement of Shared Values, which gave every chapter the opportunity to provide input. Students representing each sub-council of the InterGreek Council worked on the final version of the Statement of Shared Values. This statement can be found on the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life website.
The purpose of the 5-Star ALPHA Standards of Excellence Program is to enhance the values, beliefs, and practices of Fraternity and Sorority Life at Columbia University and recognize the accomplishments of outstanding chapters. By encouraging academic success, leadership development, philanthropy, community service, and chapter management, the Office of Residential Programs seeks to reward chapters who exemplify excellence and continuously work towards making a positive impact on campus and the surrounding community while fulfilling the mission and vision of their respective organizations.
Fraternities and sororities have the ability to earn three to five stars, with a minimum of three stars required to receive full recognition.
Q: Why is the chapter being punished for the actions of an individual?
The reviews of each individual fraternity were conducted by reflecting on the chapter as a whole and not solely on the basis of the actions of the individuals involved in the NYPD “Operation Ivy League” investigation. The behavior of individuals did, however, prompt Dean Martinez and Dean Shollenberger to review the four-year history of each of the three fraternities in question. The sanctions placed on these chapters reflect the comprehensive review process conducted by Dean Martinez of each individual fraternity. The University will not conduct the judicial procedures for those individuals involved until outside proceedings are completed. The University will not announce those internal proceedings as they begin, in accordance with federal privacy laws regarding student information.
-2011 InterGreek Council Executive Board
Anthony Testa, President, InterFraternity Council
Lauren Perrine, President, Panhellenic Council
Jason Tejada, President, Multicultural Greek Council
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113 Comments
@why does all the juicy stuff have to happen when I need to study for exams?! first finals, now midterms….goddamn operation ivy league fuckin with my gpa.
@The War on Fun In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
This is a severe loss. We’re under siege. I have full faith in both the Greek system and the Columbia community at large (yes, that includes you, silent majority of Barnard girls who like to have fun) that we will eventually win. Less noble causes have lasted longer against more powerful enemies.
Dear Administration,
We’re still here. Bring it on.
Love,
CC ’13
@CC'13 oh please
@Otter You can’t hold a whole fraternity responsible for the behavior of a few, sick twisted individuals. For if you do, then shouldn’t we blame the whole fraternity system? And if the whole fraternity system is guilty, then isn’t this an indictment of our educational institutions in general? I put it to you, Greg – isn’t this an indictment of our entire American society? Well, you can do whatever you want to us, but we’re not going to sit here and listen to you badmouth the United States of America.
@Anonymous double secret probation
@Anonymous On the bright side, people can actually go party in the city and actually leave campus once in a while
@Anonymous there are just those times when you want to get wasted and make bad decisions without having to take a subway downtown to do so..thanks, Columbia
@Anonymous We can party with the Jews at Goldsmith :)
@Anonymous I find it slightly horrifying that people are getting so worked up about this and yet only a little over 2,000 people took the ROTC survey about an issue that actually matters.
@Alum Well I guess if its a fight Columbia wants then we should definitely oblige them. Here come the riots and rally, the letters from alums and the shitstorm that is hundreds of pissed off Columbia students and their fraternity alums. Congratulations Columbia bureaucracy – you really are a piece of shit.
@Anonymous It just amazes me how much more entrenched in their entitlement people seem to become long after they leave this university. Jeez -” Dear God please prevent me from becoming such a myopic asshole once I graduate”. Dude/Dudette – have you seen the world around you lately? There are so many more important things deserving a shit-storm of outrage then some frat boys losing a house because they fucked up their own opportunity for self management. Loser!
@Anonymous First alumni donation letter I get is going in a bonfire. Way to destroy my undergrad experience.
@Time to transfer if you can Also, I just saw a rat run down the hall, ughh, gross. What does it take to get the admin to get the rodents out of John Jay? Like they even care.
@Uh oh... somebody needs to call the WHAAAAAAAAAAA-MBULANCE.
@mattimeo hey now no need to get mean, it’s not like it was a mouse. those things are cute and cuddly. rats on the other hand are downright villainous…didn’t you ever read redwall when you were a kid??
@Incoming freshman fack.
@Am I The Only One... who has managed to have a social life–and even get drunk when I want–without the frats? I mean, I guess I feel a little bad for the guys in those frats, but all of these people moaning and bewailing the death of what little social life columbia had, are just wrong. I for one have never understood the constant complaints of lack of community and lack of fun at Columbia (although I am pissed at how frequently parties get shut down. That’s just silly).
@exactly! The war on fun actually wasn’t directed at the frats; it was directed at people hosting dorm parties. the administration tacitly supported the growth of Greek Life at Columbia as they encouraged RAs to raid EC parties. if these drug dealers didn’t fuck it up, Greek life at Columbia would still in the middle of a Renaissance.
@Anonymous this is so true, greek was on this absurd upswing while RAs were making it rain write-ups like weezy in a strip club, so where is all this self-righteous rage coming from?? everyone in those frats knew what was going on, and you know, maybe SO WHAT. I happen to feel like the entire COUNTRY should chill on the vilification of drugs, so maybe if THAT was these greeks’ point I would listen, but come on, there’s not a conspiracy against you! personally, I wish you fine PHILANTHROPIC citizens would have gone down for something more legitimate, but please don’t put your ties and haircuts on and try to convince us you are pillars of the community. leave that to your brothers in lock up. either come out and say you should be able to party without consequences (I might agree!) or just shut it.
@Anonymous And why, for instance, was Postcrypt victimized for so long? It’s kind of absurd how much the frats get away with in light of this. And this is just three frats; the rest have to go through evaluation, but shouldn’t they? Nobody else is losing their house.
@I don't know. This is another sad victory for the war on fun…but let’s be real. If you’ve ever been in these fraternities they weren’t exactly promoting wholesome activities. The entirety of Psi U was baked 24/7. It wasn’t just a couple of people being stupid. More than a couple knew about the drug dealing too. As much as I loved getting baked, I do understand why Columbia as an institution wouldn’t be thrilled with the general situation.
So my question is, doesn’t there have to be a system where Columbia could provide a fun outlet for students while still maintaining some greater level of control over what goes on there rather than leaving it in the hands of frat guys? Cause the current system doesn’t seem to be working.
@They do Make it a pain in the ass for clubs to host events, maybe free up funds of clubs or have a dean’s social fund that you can apply to
@Time to transfer if you can Thank god I’m only a freshman, I’m taking next year off and putting in for a transfer, my peers are having the times of their life at different campuses all over the country, and I’m in the middle of the war on fun, this place has a fun factor of zero. I mean come on, since I’ve been here we’ve had a professor sleeping with his daughter, police involvement In regular college life, the issue of the day revolving around the military for weeks and now this, not too mention a host of other dumb things. I quit at the end of this semester this place really isn’t worth it. Of all the ivys I got into, why did I pick this one? time to cut my losses and find a campus that is enjoyable to be at because it really is, not because the admin tells us it is. NYC your still cool, I’ll be back after I graduate
@Anonymous Maybe by then you’ll have learned the difference between your and you’re.
Cornell can have you.
@Dude, they are not gone, they can still throw parties, they just have to find a space to do it in and another frat will replace them
@Time to transfer if you can Screw Cornell, they suck too, Columbia ruined the notion of the Ivy League for me, plus transferring into a good one is next to impossible even with having a 3.5 GPA thus far. I refuse to blow through my college funds at the tune of 40k+ per year for a place that I feel miserable at. This place was a mistake for me, and I admit that, I’ll finish strong this semester, but I’m not coming back after this summer. I got my list narrowed down to Duke, UNC Chapel Hill, Penn State, UConn and UGA. At least these campuses are large enough that you can avoid the misery of the collective that small campuses have the ability to perpetuate.
@Anonymous 3.5 huh? hmmm… maybe you should transfer.
@transfer from a big10 Be careful what you wish for, kid. Let’s see how much “community” you can find as a transfer at a school with tens of thousands of undergrads. Also, if you’re smart enough to be here, lets see how horrible the “misery” of CU’s small campus is when you’re on your impossible quest at your new school to find the same kind of intellectual curiosity there is here. If you want to spend your next 3 years getting wasted, then leave…but this place has an unbelievable list of pros too.
@sooo you’re really superficial, huh? if you can’t realize how great this school is, then i totally agree, you should transfer.
@Anonymous Good riddance!
@senior I agree with you, because the only purpose in college is to have fun.
@Anonymous Oh Columbia, why don’t you kick them while they are down? After the hell each frat experienced because of the actions of their individual members, why don’t you exacerbate their pain by taking away their homes? Oh and you should probably keep them in the dark for a few weeks and then wait directly before midterms to render your decision. The lack of compassion is astounding.
@Anonymous Dude nobody is kicking them out on the street. I mean Wein sucks but they’ll have a roof.
Chill out.
@Anonymous I think the IRC should be shut down as well. Everyone in there knew what was going on! If the frats lose housing they should as well. It is only fair. The IRC can still function if they do not have housing. It is a bad argument to say that all the services the IRC requires the students to live together. Make it into a club and lets see who the loyal IRC people are. I bet tons of them would leave the IRC group if they lost housing and were only a campus club.
@Anonymous The IRC hosts tons of events IN THEIR HOUSE, including discussions and speaker series that are open to the entire campus.
So…it might be a little hard for them to function without their house.
And again, the IRC does not operate like a fraternity. It operates like the LLC. You apply to the university to live there and you are obligated to participate in certain types of programming as a resident.
None of those programs involve kegs. BUT they do have a fun Halloween Haunted House.
@Anonymous perhaps a better argument would be made to kick out all the people in IRC and get fresh recruits for next year instead of shutting down the IRC per se. i’m sorry but i find the hypocrisy in shutting down the frats unbelievable…
@Anonymous You do realize that they do that anyway, right? You have to apply each year to live there and I would expect them to reject the applications of anyone who knew about Chris Coles’s dealing.
@Learned Please take note. This is your chance to be legendary.
@Columbia Student AGREED
@3 YEARS? That is the biggest pile of horseshit I’ve ever heard. Great work CU, you’ve ruined the college experience of 100+ greeks and the entire undergrad community.
@you farted i can smell it
@fucking PISSED. i’ve never been to the frats, but regardless, it was one of the few things on campus that provided SOME kind of student culture.
columbia, seriously, look at how you run shit, fix drug regulation procedures, whatever. but stop fucking crushing our souls.
@Anonymous …culture?
@Anonymous Methinks midterms are getting to some people…
@Yeah. The Brownstones are Columbia housing.
@bla, bla, bla Real questions time: can those frat students enter the normal housing process? Don’t you lose housing if you don’t live in it the previous year?
@So, NSOP 2011’s going to suck. Poor incoming freshies.
@Housing Hey Bwog, if you could let us know how this is going to affect housing next year that would be great! Thanks!
@Claire We’d love to know as much as you! We’ll post as soon as we know anything.
@person vulture
http://www.blogcdn.com/www.joystiq.com/media/2006/11/wow4twiw3.gif
@Greek Alum It’s no big secret that the administration doesn’t support a lot of the goings on in fraternities, specifically unregistered parties, noise complaints, etc. But they’ve been lenient for a while and have allowed Greeks to basically rob the bank.
Dean Martinez said it herself that Operation Ivy League presented the administration with an opportunity to re-evaluate the impact that the organizations were having on campus life. That’s all you need to know when trying to figure out why Pike, AEPi and PsiU were kicked out of their houses while the IRC was allowed to keep theirs. They feel that the IRC contributes more to campus than the fraternities do. Depending on their definition of contribution, they may be right, but that ignores the fact that they’ve crushed the members of three organizations whose only crime, if you listen to commenter “…” at 10:18, is not tattling on their brothers. Doesn’t seem like a reason to destroy one of the only things that made Columbia feel almost like a normal college during my days there.
@... no, you overgrown manchild, this had nothing to do with “tattling.” this was a slow motion carwreck that was taking place over the course of _months_ where nobody stepped in, nobody slapped these kids upside the head, and now the course of their lives may be altered for the worse forever.
it’s pretty fucking basic if you ask me. these kids were playing with fire, their “brothers” knew it and instead of setting them straight, they laughed. and just because you seem to be a bit confused yourself, “setting them straight” has nothing to do with authorities or administrators.
good god. i used to be fairly neutral on fraternities, but the more you people speak like fucking babies, the more i realize that these things are the scourge of the earth. producing loads of overgrown manchildren who then go out into the world and see right and wrong in terms of “tattling.” bernie madoff and ken lay were both fraternity types, i used to think that it was coincidence or just a function of when they were in school, maybe there’s something more…
@up shut fuck shut the fuck up, you have no idea what you are talking about. “The brothers knew it?” oh really? Are you a brother and know this for a fact?
What about the ones that didn’t. Why do they have to take the same blame, and punishment. For something not only they didn’t know, but also didn’t do. And it’s a 3 year long punishment too.
@yes but... The frats don’t actually cost Columbia that much but they don’t contribute either
@... wasn’t there evidence (jokes on whiteboards in common space or something) that it was pretty much an open secret what was going on?
look. i have no problem with petty drug dealers. if anything, i’d argue that this place probably needs more of them, not less. but honestly, if they’re _that_ reckless about it, and their peers were aware of it, and nobody stepped in and intervened… well uh, maybe these kids aren’t responsible enough to be looking after themselves after all. i mean, i thought the whole point of these things is that they’re supposed to be looking after each other. hell, if they’re willing to let their “brothers” flail so hard at peddling sundry inebriants that they somehow manage to attract the attention of an already overtaxed police force in a part of town where there’s already loads more to deal with, then god knows what other timebombs were ticking.
@Agreed Yeah, it seems unfair. But in a small house full of people who are supposed to be “brothers,” it’s pretty obvious that a lot of people knew, and may have been helping to cover the whole thing up. That was probably the reasoning behind taking their housing away. I don’t really care much either way, but I can see where the university is coming from.
Also, somewhat unrelated, but there’s a lot of talk here about Greek life providing a “normal” college experience or “campus culture.” But why choose to go to Columbia, a school in the middle of New York City, if that’s what you’re looking for…?
@Anonymous Because it’s nice to have a balance. Joining a greek org was one of the best things I did at school. I met a lot more people and it gave me a sense of community that this school really doesn’t offer (in my opinion) otherwise. I spent plenty of time out in the city exploring, finding new places and getting away from campus but I loved being able to have the option of doing the “typical college thing.”
@Anonymous that was psi u, not all the frats, that had something written on the wall. and i believe that was written after the fact.
and i can assure you the brothers did not know what was going on.
did it ever occur to you that it’s in the interest of drug dealers to keep it a secret that they are drug dealers because it is illegal? do you really think the brotherhoods are that close knit that a brother risking their chapter’s existence by selling drugs out of their house would feel comfortable telling everyone? do you really think the brothers are stupid enough to have allowed that to continue if they knew?
@Anonymous What an overreaction, Columbia. So many bigger issues you could be dealing with and instead you’re just crushing our spirits some more.
@Mizkan I’m deeply saddened at the lack of a sense of community in our student body expressed in this thread. This isn’t something to cheer over, regardless of your affiliation to the Greek system. There are far more victims here than you can imagine. Don’t be the liberal hippie douches the whole world already thinks Columbia students are. Compassion for your INNOCENT classmates who are grieving.
now bring on the hate replies you bitches.
@You make a good point but, I think you are making the mistake of assuming people who post on the comments section of Bwog (or any internet site) are moral people who think and consider before their post. Granted, those who post on Bwog are usually more coherent than most internet sites, these people are not an accurate representation of Columbia as a whole…
@Well Stated! … or was it? Or … is this? *runs to corner of room to have existential crisis*
@Van Owen Whitney Houston says, “Crack is Whack…Bitches.”
@Hey, Shut up, Van Owen.
@Anonymous war on fun much????
there is absolutely no reason they should have lost their houses…
if you were personally involved then yes, be punished, but it’s completely ridiculous, unfair for those uninvolved.
This basically kills any party life that ever even remotely existed on columbia’s campus…
to the incoming freshman…ENJOYYYY…
@Anonymous Last time I checked only AePi threw good parties. Pike was just…creepy. And don’t even get me started on PsiU.
@hey you love cock
@Anonymous Hey now, what’s wrong with loving cock?
@... probably 70% of Columbia loves the D
@jus' sayin and the remaining ~30% don’t know how to use theirs
@Anonymous They should open brothels there.
@CC'13 but carman is right across the street!
@... fail you should have went with barnard
@CC'13 overdone
@Anonymous “should have gone,” dumbass, read a book.
@... nice
@and Barnard is just down the block!
@lol you can tell what school all the commenters are. Barnard jokes get thumbs down. hahaha
@Anonymous not funny to joke about.
@Anonymous Does this mean there is a chance I don’t have to live in Wein next year?
@Father Time Out with the old, in with the new.
Let’s all do that fratrow shuffle
@ban frats on campus! HOORAY. I hope they lose their brownstones forever. and not because they do/sell drugs. because they suck and make 114th st suck.
@Anonymous you obviously have no life
@Anonymous you obviously need to reconsider your definition of having a life
@Anonymous Naturally the IRC is left alone, wouldn’t want to put them on the same level as those degenerate frats now would we
@Anonymous The University not the IRC actually determines who can live there each year and it changes. They university can decide to not allow people who lived there this year to live there again next year.
But getting rid of the IRC would be a little bit like getting rid of the LLC or any of the other “special interest” housing on campus (ie sustainable living, kosher, creative writing, potluck, etc.)
@Anonymous They aren’t “getting rid” of those fraternities, so dissolving the IRC’s housing (and thus the IRC) isn’t comparable to taking away those fraternities’ houses. The main issue here is the university punishing the rest of the frat brothers for “association” and leaving the students in the IRC unpunished, gauged by some bullshit subjective inspection and the methodology of which has been kept under wraps/very vague. I don’t even necessarily think that the kids in the IRC should be punished like the associated frat brothers are (no reason to make an unfair decision any more unfair), but I do think it’s important to highlight how political this decision was. Think about how much better PR it is for CU to demonize pike, aepi and psiu and then remove all of their houses. They can tell everyone they fixed the problem and sweep the rest of the issue under the rug, keeping parents at home happy by playing upon preconceived fraternity stereotypes. The whole drug bust was designed for media play, CU is now trying to minimize damage control as much as possible. I don’t have a problem with that necessarily, but at least admit it instead of pretending this action is what the administration considers “fair.”
@Classicist Brutal. Greek Life’s days are numbered at Columbia.
@wait a sec! What about the IRC?
@I want a single This does mean that the frat brownstones will now be available in the housing lottery?
@Anonymous no. most likely axo and/or fiji and a MCG organization get housing
@CC'13 good god anyone but fiji
@War on Fun They might be, no one knows. But we know for sure that no Greek organization will be taking them. so no ako, fiji, etc.
@Yeah, why didn't... the IRC lose their house?
@Dude 1. Their disciplinary & academic records were minimally troublesome. The frat members’ records, on the other hand, were a lot more worrisome overall to the extent that they were indicative there might be a culture about this – plus, the IRC has an administrative member living with them, they might share some of the blame. Whereas if you a frat, you are given the chance to not have an RA or anything like that at all. You had the chance to look after yourself and make sure everything was going well. It’s an RA’s fault if they don’t write up students for things like drugs and alcohol.
You abuse that responsibility the university gives you, you lose it.
@Article in the Eye Mad helpful, yo:
http://eye.columbiaspectator.com/article/2011/03/03/brothers-law
@alum of something that is no more if it’s based on individual organizations’ records then how did three fraternities end up with identical punishments????
@... because they actually do something productive for campus
@Anonymous I’m of the opinion that fraternities and sororities are pathetic, especially in NYC.
BUT I think it’s pretty unfair that frats should take such a big hit because of 4 student’s stupidity.
@!!! Campo’s gone! Aepi is gone! Pike is gone!
What is this world coming to?!
@Anonymous Campo’s gone?
@Anonymous Not gone, just changing the name. They’re deciding between “Camp Ho” and “Trampo.”
@LBB'12 Personally i would say its coming into it’s Golden Age
@anon wtf!!!
@! ROBOT HOUSE!!!!
@I'm not a frat guy... ….and really don’t hang out with “that crowd” other than a few rare chats at their mating ground Campo–but that’s kinda fucked up.
The actions of a few people don’t reflect decade-old communities of this school. The IRC didn’t lose their house, did they?
@Anonymous yeah why didnt the IRC lose their housing. i def know of ppl who knew that chris coles was selling. this is fucked up…
@So... how do you define complicity (is that a word? lol)? Iono how they defined it for the frats, and I think it’s unfair that five students’ doings should be taken out on living. That being said, I don’t think there’s been an official review of the IRC yet, or any info…maybe it’s coming later?
@why is that so confusing? obvious difference:
frats – national organizations run by a discrete administration somewhere remote from columbia
IRC – run from columbia
why is everyone so confused that the IRC house didn’t get taken away? we obviously know the IRC as a whole is greater than this scandal or the people in it right now because we created the IRC, but if this is all we see of the frats, we’re going to be inclined to define them by it.
the frats are like foreign organisms attached to columbia; they live in our real estate and we recognize them as clubs run by national organizations that have nothing to do with us. the IRC is not a foreign organism, and it is run by us. cutting off the frats (or doing something to that general effect) is pointing the figure at an “other” whereas punishing the IRC would be like pointing the finger at ourselves. publicity-wise, this shouldn’t be that confusing
@Anonymous oh no guys nsop 2011 is gonna blowww
@Anonymous Columbia has been in business long enough that it’s seen it’s share of drug busts and the like. Any kind of “war on frats” is really just Columbia wrangling up the straggling idiots that ignore the consequences of breaking the law, mind you multiple felonies
@Anonymous OWNEDDDDD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
@Blame the c5 idiots.