Suspended Frats Should Stay Away From Our University

Pep rally at the Pi Kappa Alpha house back in 2010/ Photo via FIU Flickr

Nicole Ardila / Assistant Opinion Director

After Rosenberg resigned earlier this year, FIU emphasized the intolerance for misconduct in the university. Now, the university is allowing two of the most reckless fraternities in America back on campus.

The incidents committed by FIU chapters Pi Kappa Alpha, or PIKE, and Pi Kappa Phi, or Pi Kapp, were so inappropriate that even CNN covered the story. Rolling Stones magazine listed PIKE in their top ten “most out-of-control fraternities in America.”

Fraternity Headquarters expelled PIKE’s FIU chapter in 2013 after posts from their private Facebook page were leaked. The posts revealed drug dealing, hazing and the exchange of semi-nude photos of women, including one of a 17-year old girl. They were also previously charged for vandalism, sexual misconduct and underage drinking. 

“The Facebook posts disgusted me, angered me, and saddened me,” said former President Mark B. Rosenberg when the controversy occurred. “This type of behavior will not be tolerated at FIU.” 

This comment didn’t age well. After all that has happened, it doesn’t seem like FIU takes misconduct seriously. 

PIKE has a history of being suspended from multiple major Florida universities such as Stetson University, Florida Atlantic University, University of Central Florida, University of Miami and the University of Florida. They were suspended from Florida State University after members were charged with raping an 18-year-old girl and dumping her in a hallway.

FIU suspended Pi Kapp in 2017 due to hazing allegations. Depending on the degree of severity, hazing can be a criminal offense in the state of Florida. This law was enacted in 2005, after a University of Miami student, Chad Meredith, drowned in a lake due to hazing. 

Later in 2019, Gov. Ron DeSantis forced stricter measures to make hazing a felony after FSU student, Andrew Coffey, died of alcohol poisoning in 2017. Coffey was a Pi Kapp pledge. 

After all this intolerable behavior committed by the two fraternities, whether in FIU’s chapter or other universities, it’s unacceptable to allow them to return to our university. It’s possible that when these fraternities return to campus, FIU students will not feel as safe knowing about their histories now. 

Yes, this is a new generation of men pledging to become part of these organizations, but Greek life has its own cultures and traditions that rarely change, like hazing. 

FIU hasn’t been in the positive public eye lately with the lawsuits and Rosenberg’s misconduct allegations, so bringing back these fraternities can ruin the university’s credibility. 

If the university wants to take a stand against sexual harassment and misconduct, then the wise decision would be to deny entry to those who’ve been proven guilty of this behavior in the past. 

The university isn’t doing its job to prevent these mistakes from happening again. Expulsion is rape prevention. They have the power to avoid harm, misconduct and a bad reputation. Instead, they’re willing to allocate $250,000 for three new positions in Fraternity and Sorority Life. That money could go towards more important things like technology, construction, or research. 

These questionable situations are constantly being swept under the rug. Just because alumni, who are active financial contributors to FIU, request that their fraternities return to campus does not excuse past actions. Receiving a great percentage of money is not worth putting the safety of our students at risk, this decision that FIU made does just that, and we deserve better. 

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The opinions presented within this page do not represent the views of the PantherNOW Editorial Board. These views are separate from editorials and reflect individual perspectives of contributing writers and/or members of the University community

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