Over the past year, Eric J. Barron has gone on a national crusade against hazing and alcohol abuse in Greek life. The president of Pennsylvania State University was driven to action after the tragic death last year of Timothy Piazza, a fraternity pledge who died after binge drinking and falling down stairs.
Barron went as far as to say that “the end of Greek life at Penn State” could be on the horizon if fraternities and sororities didn’t get their act together.
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Over the past year, Eric J. Barron has gone on a national crusade against hazing and alcohol abuse in Greek life. The president of Pennsylvania State University was driven to action after the tragic death last year of Timothy Piazza, a fraternity pledge who died after binge drinking and falling down stairs.
Barron went as far as to say that “the end of Greek life at Penn State” could be on the horizon if fraternities and sororities didn’t get their act together.
It was with that sense of urgency that Barron convened a meeting of more than 50 presidents, provosts, and student-affairs professionals on Monday and Tuesday. Attendees discussed combating hazing, collecting and publishing data about Greek organizations, and reforming the pledging process, among other things.
The conference occurred amid recent turmoil at Syracuse University, where racist videos of fraternity members surfaced last week.
In an interview after the conference, Barron expressed cautious optimism about the future of Greek life. But as he’s heightened his calls for change in recent months, he’s gotten frustrated at times.
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“You have to realize — and I think people have a hard time grasping this — the fact that there are so many constituencies who have an interest in this and have their own view of what they can or should or want to do,” he said, from students and alumni to administrators, property managers, and national fraternity and sorority groups.
Penn State officials announced a lengthy list of policy changes to its Greek system last year after Piazza died. Among other things, administrators took control of the disciplinary proceedings for fraternities and sororities that committed hazing, alcohol, or other violations, a process Greek student leaders had traditionally handled themselves.
Could Greek life at Penn State, in fact, come to an end? “It’s still a distinct possibility,” Barron said, noting that his university is currently down 16 Greek organizations out of 74 because of suspensions. “You sort of feel like, year by year, you slowly drip down,” he said. “Certainly there are people out there saying, What’s the value? Let’s just end it now.”
“On the other hand,” Barron continued, “we’re also seeing a lot of houses modeling really good behavior and alumni groups that have said, Not my house.” Parents have also gotten more involved, he said, in helping the organizations “pay attention to the rules.”
Barron is particularly interested in data-driven approaches to promoting change among fraternities and sororities. Penn State recently began publishing online “scorecards” outlining how its Greek organizations are faring in terms of grades, conduct violations, fund raising, and community-service hours. That data collection can start right out of high school, he said, so officials can “really separate and understand behavioral issues and how they’re evolving in a university environment.”
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He said he’d eventually like to create a national database of fraternities and sororities, which would allow college officials to learn from other institutions and compare how different chapters of particular fraternities or sororities are performing. Barron also wants to talk more about underground fraternities, groups that lose university recognition but continue to operate in the shadows.
In the near future, he’ll continue to meet with college presidents nationwide and seek their support for a blueprint of sorts that will spell out best practices for how to structure a safe Greek-life system.
“We really want to make sure that every student has a chance to thrive,” Barron said. “Obviously, if you’re no longer alive, that’s no longer in the cards.”
Sarah Brown writes about a range of higher-education topics, including sexual assault, race on campus, and Greek life. Follow her on Twitter @Brown_e_Points, or email her at sarah.brown@chronicle.com.