A lawsuit alleging the drugging and gang rape of a student by seven members of Cornell University's Chi Phi fraternity in 2024 has led to calls for greater scrutiny of fraternities on campus, and even banning them.
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lawsuit → allege → them
The case has drawn national attention in recent weeks after it was revealed that only two of the seven men alleged to have been involved were expelled.
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two → draw → men
Both the university and local authorities have come under criticism for their handling of the case.
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university → come → case
Cornell President Michael Kotlikoff said in a video message to the university community on Saturday that the school would take “a serious look at the role of fraternities and sororities in campus life” among other steps aimed at creating a safer campus environment.
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school → say → environment
At a protest on the university campus on Monday, people chanted “Ban the frats!”
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people → chant → frats
TIME spoke to Nick Syrett, author of The Company He Keeps: A History of White College Fraternities and chair and professor of gender and women’s studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, about the case, what makes fraternities different, and why they have proved so hard to rein in.
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they → speak → case
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
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interview → edit → length
You've written a book about white college fraternities.
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You → write → fraternities
What about this case shocked or surprised you, if anything?
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What → shock → you
There's a long history of events like this happening in fraternities.
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events → be → fraternities
So it is not surprising that it has happened once again.
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it → happen → ?
Is there something unique about fraternities that encourages this kind of behavior?
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that → encourage → behavior
I do think there is something particular about fraternities.
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I → think → fraternities
Aside from sports teams on college campuses, these are the only single-sex organizations, and the men who join them have decided that they want to be in a single-sex organization that allows them to live out their masculinity in particular kinds of ways.
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them → join → ways
They know that these organizations already have a reputation for partying, for drinking, for sometimes hazing, for being places where you can meet women, and so some men join them and other men don't.
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men → know → them
But when they get in the organizations, the pressure ratchets up because there is an emphasis upon sex and dating and hooking up.
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pressure → get → sex
That is some fraternities' mandate that like people report who they've hooked up with, who they've had sex with, they talk about these things.
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they → report → things
It's a way to enhance masculinity.
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It → enhance → masculinity
The other thing is fraternities just have lots of power on campus.
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fraternities → have → campus
Most of them own their own houses, which means they don't have lots of oversight from university officials.
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they → own → officials
What do you think those regulations would look like, or should look like?
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regulations → think → What
It's hard to say.
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It → say → ?
I think one of the things to know is that all fraternities and sororities are regulated at least to a certain degree.
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fraternities → think → degree
That is, they're recognized student organizations.
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they → recognize → ?
They have to abide by certain rules that often have to do with things like rushing and pledging—that is how people become members of the organizations in the first place.
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people → have → place
Social events where fraternities and sororities mix with one another and with unaffiliated members are usually at least registered with university officials.
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fraternities → mix → officials
The difficulty here is that when a university does the ultimate thing, which is to ban an organization from campus altogether, it loses any ability to regulate because now they're not an official organization.
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they → do → ability
But by and large, the fraternities own their own houses, and so young men who are students at any university can still choose to become members of that fraternity and live in that house if they want to, if that chapter remains recognized by its national organization.
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chapter → own → organization
So we see that happen with some regularity.
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that → see → regularity
There's a fraternity right here at my school, the University of Wisconsin, that two weeks ago the police busted for illegal hazing.
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police → be → hazing
That fraternity hasn't been recognized by the university for 10 years, but it's still admitting members, having them pledge, hazing them, and breaking the law.
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them → recognize → law
How widespread are these issues that you’re talking about among fraternities?
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you → talk → fraternities
Is it limited to a few bad fraternities, or is this kind of just a part of the life?
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kind → limit → life
It's a hard question to answer, in part because we don't always know how people are behaving behind closed doors.
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people → answer → doors
There are a few things we know.
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we → be → ?
One, we know that men in fraternities are more likely to sexually assault and participate in hazing than men who choose not to join fraternities.
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who → know → fraternities
Of course, not all men who are in fraternities do either of those things.
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who → do → things
It's just that they are more likely to do so than non-affiliated men.
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they → do → men
And most evidence suggests that people in fraternities do drink more than those who are unaffiliated, but it also gets to this question, sort of a chicken and egg question: like, are people who are more interested in those activities more likely to join fraternities in the first place?
uncertain
who → suggest → place
I think the answer is probably yes, but then those behaviors are simply reinforced in fraternities by older members as well, who make environments that are conducive to those behaviors.
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that → think → behaviors
…and 27 more, not listed.
The Aporia
