By Ceoli Jacoby
As the university returns to pseudo-normalcy following last month’s sequester-in-place order, many students are pointing fingers at Greek life as a significant source of COVID-19 spread.
Over the past two weeks, redditors flooded r/UMD with their takes on the matter – one user sparked a 92-comment debate under his post, titled “Fraternity member here: we ARE the problem.” Another post, declaring “Greek Life Shouldn’t Exist: Change my mind,” received over 200 upvotes and several awards.
Notwithstanding a few dissenters, the consensus on social media is clear: in hosting socials and in-person rush events, Greek organizations have engendered a culture of disregard for the greater campus community.
Those on the inside say it’s not that simple. A leader in the Greek community, who agreed to be interviewed under the condition of anonymity, argued that while there have been a few “rogue members doing what they want,” the issue of community spread in sororities and fraternities is a structural one.
To fully understand the issue, one must first be familiar with the bureaucracy that is Greek Life at the University of Maryland. The Department of Fraternity and Sorority Life (DFSL) is the governing body of the Interfraternity Council, the Multicultural Greek Council, the National Pan-Hellenic Council and the Panhellenic Association. Together, these four councils oversee every recognized chapter on campus – though each chapter is also subject to the policies of its national organization.
According to the anonymous source, many chapters have faced pressure from their national headquarters about recruitment and are expected to meet quotas for new members despite the pandemic. On the other hand, the DFSL mandated that no rush events this semester be conducted face-to-face.
Consequently, leaders in Greek life have been forced to weigh the COVID risks associated with in-person recruitment against the possible loss of their chapter’s national recognition, should they fail to attract enough students virtually.
“It’s that mentality of, ‘If another chapter is doing in-person rush events, why not my chapter?’” the source said. “It’s going to cause a domino effect.”
Another reason for sororities’ and fraternities’ noncompliance with COVID-19 guidelines, according to the source, is a flawed judicial system that aims to keep university officials out of internal disciplinary matters.
“Nothing the school has done is scary to students,” he said.
DFSL Director Matthew Supple wrote in an email that “the goal in DFSL is not to be scary, but to help students hold themselves and their peers accountable.” But the source contends that doing so is easier said than done.
If a chapter is suspected of a violation, that chapter is brought before an independent judicial board made up of students from different chapters. The board then decides on a sanction. However, this can occur only if “there is detailed, actionable information that is presented as proof that a violation occurred,” Supple said. Additionally, the judicial board cannot hold an entire chapter accountable for the actions of individual members.
“At the end of the day, if a satellite house in Old Town where the chapter president doesn’t live wants to have people over and it gets out of hand, what can we do?” the anonymous source asked.
The DFSL recognizes that the judicial process is fallible – especially because it depends on students whistle-blowing on one another.
“When individual responsibility and peer accountability fail, we try to ensure institutional accountability occurs, either through the Office of Student Conduct or through the DFSL recognition process,” Supple said.
Even institutional accountability, though, can be hard to come by. When an off-campus social gathering is shut down by local law enforcement, the anonymous source explained, officers generally take down the name or names on the property’s lease.
If applicable, law enforcement will pass those names on to the OSC. However, it is not uncommon for individual students to face repercussions without ever implicating their chapter. Between the start of the semester and March 4, only six chapters were referred to the OSC for potential COVID-19 violations, according to Assistant Director Vanessa Taft.
As far as the DFSL recognition process goes, several unrecognized groups continue to operate underground at the university despite “engaging in risky behaviors that endangered the members and other students,” according to the DFSL website. One such group, Phi Gamma Delta or “Fiji,” came under fire on Reddit for hosting a basement party on Feb. 20 – just hours after the sequester-in-place order took effect. Video evidence of the party was submitted to the OSC.
“Leaders were put in a horrible position. I really think we’re doing everything we can, but we’re not getting results because members don’t care,” the anonymous source said. “They’re just going to try and have fun until somebody gets made an example of – and nobody has yet.”
Featured photo: Fraternity Row. Gabrielle Lewis/Stories Beneath the Shell