John E. Thrasher, the Florida State University president who last week announced an indefinite ban on fraternity and sorority activities, says he is battling a culture of alcohol abuse that takes hold among students in middle school and continues with the encouragement of parents.
The ban at Florida State, which is the latest among similar measures taken at several colleges and universities, was prompted by the death this month of Andrew Coffey, a 20-year-old pledge at Pi Kappa Phi who was found unresponsive after a party.
Mr. Coffey’s family applauded the ban, saying in a letter that it was a step toward fixing a culture “that is obviously broken.”
But Mr. Thrasher, during an interview at The Chronicle’s offices on Monday, said he had heard from other parents who were not as supportive, some of whom had told him that “you’ve ruined my so-and-so’s cultural life.”
That sort of backlash, which is sometimes acknowledged privately by college leaders, points toward the role that parents may play in acquiescing in or even encouraging high-risk drinking by students.
Mr. Coffey’s death came at the start of Parents Weekend at Florida State, when students’ families are invited to the campus. At one point during his presidency, Mr. Thrasher said, he was appalled to see parents drinking to excess at a local bar with students, some of whom appeared underage.
“They were doing shots,” he recalled. “They were doing the whole deal. I was flabbergasted by that.”
Mr. Thrasher said that Florida State’s new sanction had teeth, and that he would not lift it without evidence of a cultural change.
But he conceded that meaningful reform is complex. He was not sure that a ban on alcohol, for example, is possible at houses owned by Greek organizations. Nor, he said, is it advisable to push the groups off campus, where oversight would be more difficult.
“I don’t really know that there’s a silver bullet,” he said.
Mr. Thrasher was in Washington for a meeting of the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities. He visited The Chronicle with W. Kent Fuchs, of the University of Florida, and John C. Hitt, of the University of Central Florida. They echoed Mr. Thrasher’s argument that the alcohol problems they see on campus are deeply rooted.
“The education and the culture change has to start years earlier,” Mr. Fuchs said.
Yet none of Florida’s assembled public-university presidents would say that fraternities and sororities had outlived their usefulness on their campuses. Both Mr. Hitt and Mr. Thrasher were members of fraternities in college. Mr. Fuchs was not.
“Most of the really good leaders we have,” Mr. Thrasher said, “come from our fraternities and sororities.”
Jack Stripling covers college leadership, particularly presidents and governing boards. Follow him on Twitter @jackstripling, or email him at jack.stripling@chronicle.com.
