Florida State University Bans Greek Life

FSU logo. Credit: Wikipedia.

For Florida State University, fraternities and sororities are a thing of the past.

Andrew Coffey, a 20-year-old pledge at Pi Kappa Phi and junior transfer to FSU, was found unresponsive Friday morning after attending a party the night before (Nov. 3) the school said.

After this event, the school announced that it would be banning all Greek Life. The Greek life suspension bans all new member events, council and chapter meetings, tailgates and other social events at the university according to CNN.

According to Tallahassee Police Chief Michael DeLeo, alcohol was most likely the reason for his death, although the autopsy is yet to be released.

“For this suspension to end, there will need to be a new normal for Greek Life at the university,” FSU President John Thrasher told CNN. “There must be a new culture, and our students must be full participants in creating it.”

Thrasher thinks it is important to send a message to students that the health of Greek Life members must be considered, and behavior must be appropriate. Also, another accusation FSU is facing is cocaine trafficking from a member of the Phi Delta Theta fraternity.

“I want to send a message that we’ve got a serious problem and we need to deal with it, and they’re part of the solution,” Thrasher said. “And the sooner they can come to the table and we can all talk and find those solutions, the sooner this will be lifted.”

This case mirrors deaths because of Greek Life at other big name schools like Penn State and Clemson.

At Penn State, sophomore Tim Piazza, 19, died following his first night pledging a fraternity in February. Surveillance footage showed Piazza falling repeatedly down a set of stairs, following an event that involved heavy drinking. Many fraternity members were charged with aggravated assault and involuntary manslaughter after Piazza’s death.

At Clemson in 2014, a 19-year-old fraternity pledge fell to his death after he was forced to walk along a narrow bridge railing in a hazing incident, according to a civil lawsuit filed by his family. Thrasher used these cases and researched the incidents at Penn State and Clemson in formulating a plan for future steps.

“It’s obviously not just a problem for Florida State,” Thrasher told according to CNN. “It’s a problem for just about every major university.”

In the future, changes would have to be made for Florida State University students to regain the privilege to participate in fraternities and sororities.

Williston senior Madison Fulcher-Melendy agrees that the FSU administration is correct in making these changes to their school.

“I just think these hazing cases are kind of inhumane,” Madison said. “I think Greek Life is an important part of the legacies of these large schools, but sometimes I think they are a little too extreme.”