[FALL RECAP] Fraternity events suspended: Yet Another Turbulent Semester for Frats at Cornell

Cornell, especially in recent years, has had a troubled history with Greek Life. Three years ago, Antonio Tsialas ‘23 died in a hazing-related tragedy. Two years ago, Covid-19 forced the complete shutdown of fraternity events. And again this year, tragic circumstances have once again resulted in the suspension of activity for all Greek organizations under the Interfraternity Council (IFC).

Cornell has experienced numerous scandals involving fraternity houses, especially in the past 15 years. The following list is not exhaustive.

In 2011, George Desdunes died in a pledge-related incident involving reverse-hazing at Sigma Alpha Epsilon. He was tied up with zip ties and forced to consume copious amounts of alcohol. The morning after this event, he was found dead in the fraternity house. The fraternity was suspended for ten years.

In 2016, university officials revoked Cornell’s recognition of Psi Upsilon. The Cornell Daily Sun reported at the time:

The revocation is a result of two recent incidents, including the fraternity’s alleged hosting of a Slope Day party, a ‘blatant violation’ of the terms of interim suspension and the order of a University official delivered to acting chapter leaders, a University statement said.

The chapter’s recent judicial history — which includes 31 alleged judicial complaints — was also a factor contributing to the revocation, according to the statement.

In a separate incident, Psi Upsilon president Wolfgang Ballinger was charged with first-degree attempted rape and sentenced to six years of probation. 

In 2018, Cornell revoked Sigma Nu’s official recognition for 3 years after several serious allegations of hazing. Pledges reportedly were made to remove clothing, were hosed down and encouraged to drink large amounts of alcohol while blindfolded. The incident prompted a university crackdown on hazing activities, including the prohibition of hard alcohol at fraternity events.

In October 2019, Phi Kappa Psi was dirty rushing Antonio Tsialas, a first-year student from Florida. “Dirty rushing” is when fraternities induct first semester freshmen, which is against university policy, and associated with dangerous hazing behavior. Antonio’s body was found at the bottom of a ravine, and the autopsy revealed that he drank heavily the night of his death. Further investigation found that on the night of his death Phi Kappa Psi held a pledging event where pledges were forced to drink multitudes of different alcoholic drinks. Cornell fraternities suspended registered social events for the remainder of the semester. 

And in 2020 and 2021, Cornell prohibited most fraternity activities, due to COVID-19 concerns. Because of this, most seniors have been at Cornell for two suspensions of fraternity events, making fraternity drama one of the defining issues of their tenure at Cornell. 

Once again, it seems members of Greek organizations have been implicated in criminal conduct. Beginning on September 24th and lasting through early November—though Cornellians at large have only recently been made aware—several instances of drugging occurred throughout Collegetown. On November 7th, Cornell announced that “at least four incidents occurring between the dates of September 24, 2022 and November 3, 2022 … students reported to have consumed little to no alcohol at an off-campus location but became incapacitated while attending parties.”

However, it was only due to a significant escalation that Cornell made these details public. On Sunday, November 6th, CUPD reported that a sexual assault had occurred at the 100 block of Thurston Avenue.

Immediately, IFC’s leadership—consisting of students in Greek life—voluntarily shut down their events. Cornell’s administration “fully supported this necessary pause” so IFC leaders could institute new safety measures to prevent future tragedy and CUPD could investigate the crimes. However, it seems that IFC was unable to satisfy the university. The day before Thanksgiving, Cornell announced in an email to IFC chapter officers that the suspension would continue through the end of the semester.

The community response was deafening. The Cornell subreddit and opinion pages of the Sun erupted with opposition to Greek Life. The story even attracted the attention of the New York Times, which cataloged the misdeeds of Cornell’s fraternities in recent years. The overwhelming majority of comments can be summed with a simple question: why does Greek Life—especially with its sordid history at Cornell—still exist?

This most recent suspension is all-encompassing. Included in the suspension of “fraternity parties and social events” are formals as well. The administration promised that any violation of the suspension would result in referrals to the Office of Student Conduct for violations of the Student Code.

The hammer has been brought down for this semester, but the future of fraternities at Cornell is uncertain. When students return to Ithaca after winter break, the parties and hazing might return as well. However, the administration seems to be quickly losing patience with the entire system. Perhaps the day is coming when the Greeks will be sent home.

Rodge Reschini, Cullen O’Hara, and Nial Parmanan contributed to this report. This article was originally published in the Cornell Review’s semesterly print edition.

Correction: The authors of the article clarified that the “pledge-related incident involving hazing at Sigma Alpha Epsilon” was “reverse-hazing.” The authors also added a section discussing Cornell revoking its recognition of Psi Upsilon.