Miami University is continuing its efforts to fix the issues surrounding fraternities in its campus. This comes after several clubs have been suspended for hazing.
Cincinnati.com reported that the Cliff Alexander Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life assured the Miami Board of Trustees that it is working to fix the problems in fraternity systems. The university has made five major changes on the development of students.
First, meetings between chapter leaders and staff members from the office of fraternity and sorority life has become weekly instead of once a month. Next, chapter presidents and council executive board members are elected in November in order to finish training before the rush. The current election schedule is three months earlier than last year's.
Third, new members must be able to complete an online hazing prevention course before they can fully join. Potential members are not allowed to accept a bid until they finish the course.
According to Patch.com, the training is a two-part online course which will be hosted on Canvas. It will include an introduction to Greek Life as well as its values, the leadership and will feature the things that the school wants them to know about.
Fourth, a "re-visioning committee" was created to talk about common issues such as hazing and alcohol during rush. It is made up of students, alumni and faculty. Lastly, the Greek Life office will no longer be part of the university's judicial hearings of fraternities and sororities.
The training was created in response to the suspensions of Beta Theta Pi, Pi Kappa Phi, Zeta Beta Tau, Sigma Nu, Phi Kappa Tau and Phi Kappa Psi. These groups were suspended for alcohol or hazing infractions.
Earlier this year, Miami University has had to investigate 12 fraternities and sororities for 21 hazing allegations. Suspensions were rolled out a few months after. Vice President of Student Affairs Jayne Brownell said that the university has a "zero tolerance policy on hazing."
