NYU’s Interfraternity Council fraternities will suspend recruiting altogether come Spring 2020, according to a Monday morning press release by the IFC. This comes after several frats were suspended or banned from campus due to hazing issues over the last few semesters.
The press release, sent to WSN by IFC President Blake Gruendl, cites five self-imposed sanctions the council will place on its frats to address “conduct and community issues.” In addition to ending recruitment and initiations, the council plans to donate money and work with the Center for Student Life to create an Anti-Hazing Task Force. The release did not specify the powers of the task force or a timeline for its creation.
The IFC will also hire a consultant to review the climate and culture of the frats and advise the body on “harm-reduction.” Pending these changes, the frats will also pause recruitment for the Fall 2020 semester.
When the fraternities start recruiting again, the IFC promises it will shorten the new member processes to no more than six weeks and regularly report all initiation activities to the university.
“Since Fall 2014, the IFC has had fraternities removed due to conduct incidents and has seen a decrease in community-wide membership,” the release said. “It is the firm belief these measures will provide necessary action along with educational initiatives in order to advance the mission of the community and be a partner with New York University.”
Out of NYU’s 13 Interfraternity frats, only four are currently listed as active by the university. The remainder are either on probation, banned from campus, or suspended until a certain date. In November 2017, fraternities Phi Gamma Delta (FIJI) and Pi Kappa Alpha (PIKE) were suspended from campus activity — the former until 2023 and the latter until 2022 — after being found responsible for hazing.
NYU’s website has a page listing frats that have been suspended or banned and are no longer recognized by the university — nearly all cite issues of hazing.
Email Sakshi Venkatraman at [email protected].
