UCF Board Bans Alcohol from Greek Events after Ann Hefferin’s Death
Crime, News, UCF Administration, UCF Greek Life — By Kevin Wolkenfeld on September 4, 2011 at 2:45 pmAn email was sent out to the entire UCF Greek community banning alcohol from any and all events, effective this Tuesday.
READ OUR EDITORIAL ABOUT THIS ISSUE, AND HOW UCF IS HANDLING ALCOHOL IN GENERAL.
A UCF staff member with the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life sent out the email to chapter presidents on behalf of the Greek Council, a student-run university panel receiving and reallocating state funds.
The email starts off by saying, “We the leaders of the Greek community are still in the discussion and planning stage of what changes need to be enacted within our community in the aftermath of recent events.”
Update your friends about this major news by recommending it below:
The recent events refer to the sudden death of Ann Hefferin, a freshman new member of Tri-Delta sorority. Hefferin died after attending a Sigma Chi party for a short time. She was drinking that night, police said, but it’s not yet clear what, if any, role alcohol played in her death.
Although the university panel issuing the moratorium receives state funding, no notice of this meeting was sent to the press and Greek leaders KnightNews.com spoke with didn’t know a measure this major was going to be discussed and enacted until after it was too late for public comment.
One KnightNews.com reader commented on how what this UCF panel is doing seemed similar to how USC recently handled a situation, which was believed by legal experts to be possibly illegal. Check out that video below, and read more about it here, including a letter from an attorney saying not only could USC have been sued — but also the individuals who enacted what he said was an illegal punishment to groups not accused of wrongdoing.
KnightNews.com will continue to follow this story and investigate what jurisdiction and power the panel of students actually has to enforce the rule. Typically, the Office of Student Conduct, consisting of administrators, has the power to restrict the rights of a student or registered student organization, as that office has a clear and vetted due process procedure to follow when doing so.
KnightNews.com will also work to get a comment from Greek Council student leaders about this decision. Check back for updates on this major developing story.
KnightNews.com has published the email sent out to the Greek community on the next page. Click here to read it.
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26 Comments
@tools
I believe is very ignorant for you to lump all greeks together. And stating that all fraternity pledging processes includes drinking and try to sleep with a lot of women.
In particular my pledging process was completely alcohol and drug free. My process did not include being “swashted” or “the stories conquering women”. I was never paddled as a pledge nor have I ever paddled a pledge.
I for one would like to know what particular chapters or fraternities you are speaking about. Not all fraternities end with IFC. Pledge a real fraternity and you probably wouldnt say those things but then again you would have to make it through a real process.
First off, $9,000 is a lot more than what I pay for dues, and any fraternity on this campus does for that matter. My chapters dues don’t even hit 1,000 a semester… so raising 9x more than what i pay is a considerably larger amount in my opinion…
As for paying for friends? I don’t pay for friends, I pay for a house, and membership into an organization that provides me with a mealplan, social events, philanthropies, etc. I am the treasurer for my organization, and nowhere in my budget is, “Friends”. Dues all go to activities we all enjoy together, such as the bucs football game we just bought 50+ tickets for. When you join a country club (which I doubt you will ever have the pleasure of doing), you don’t pay for friends, you pay for a golf course, tennis courts, etc., its the same thing. I had plenty of friends before I went greek, and I’m still friends with them, now I just have a ton more friends, networking opportunities into different businesses, and connections across the world. Have fun applying for jobs, I don’t have to, they get handed to me.
@tools, Yes, I am full of complete shit. The fact that I take pride in raising money for charities + philanthropies and spend my time at community service events makes me a full of shit prick who ruins everything. that makes a lot of sense. Have you never been drunk? If you have been drunk, then you arguing that Greeks getting drunk is wrong is hypocritical. I got wasted as a pledge, but I was a freshman in college. I was drunk as a freshman in college for the first 2 weeks of school, went out almost every night. Then I rushed, and nothing changed. Greeks and non-greeks drink just as much, there is no argument there. As a matter of fact, yes, Greeks do wear their letters to bars, and if they aren’t, you can tell the greeks from the non-greeks. The greeks are the ones dressed nicely, are in big groups, and give off an ‘I’m better than you’ vibe, because they are. and social skills? lol, if you had any, you would’ve gotten a bid.
Again, hop on the skateboard and move along geed.
Totally agree with #23. All my frat friends openly talk about how important partying is to being in a frat. Some of them are pretty upset about not bring able to drink at socials. I know that fundraising and good causes are not important to them and to the majority of brothers out there! And as for raising $9000 per year, that’s really nice but really nothing compared to what every frat boy pays for his dues. These guys need to grow up and learn how to develop their social skills without paying for them!!!
Any fraternity member who gives the whole argument about “donating thousands of dollars to charity” or “hundreds of hours to community service” and “no hazing/drinking for pledges” is completely full of shit. Every single person I know in a fraternity (a good bunch spread across different chapters) all got so drunk their first night as a pledge and the bad things only continued throughout their pledge-ship. “Character development” is a politically correct version of hazing. They may not paddle people anymore, but if you put a bunch of bros in a room together and task them with coming up with something to mess with a pledge, they’ll come through. The so called, “brotherhood” comes from getting shwasted and bonding with your brothers over how many sorority girls they’ve slept with.
I’m hugely opposed to fraternities, at least sororities have some sort of classy standard. Frat guys who let their status get to their head ruin it completely.
Sigma Chi should have been suspended if not expelled years ago. Financially alone they should have been put to a hault. They never followed any of the IFC rules and rarely showed up to IFC meetings. They are not a representation of the Greek Community and all of the Fraternities have believed that for some time. They should have been dry/on probation/expelled for quite some time now.
Lol number 14 r u kidding?? Ya therule might b that pledges can’t drink but both u I and everyone no that pledge semester is the most u will ever drink in ur life.. Don’t tell me otherwise I’ve been there , and any pledge will tell u that the very first night they started pledging they got completely hammered, I kno I did and i was even talked into driving a brother home that night.. And yea this was at ucf in the last two years.. And drug tests?? R u kidding no one gets drug tested thats completely erroneous ..and when u go to the plaza how do u kno if there’s more Greeks or non Greeks .. It’s not like Greeks wear there letters out… Also u note that most members of sga r Greeks.. Well obviously Greeks have an overwhelming advantage with the support of an entire fraternity of sorority..don’t make Greek life seem more important than it is.. Everyone knows there’s a handful of people who have positions in there fraternity/sorority that r very serious and dedicated and actually care about the things u noted, while the large majority is there for party
Then again you can say that Greeks should be held to a higher standard than gdis. I mean we’ve been saying shut like that for a long time. Yes I am Greek. No I am not going to birch about this. It’s too soon to he bitching about drinking. We should instead be remembering Ann. Now let’s stop being the assholes the world see
s us as and act like the upper class people we are.
What was the CAUSE of Death for Ann ?? What caused her death?? this is kinda important. Where is Dr. G. the medical examiner of world wide fame.
Perfect example of what the Golden Rule is really about…He or she that has the gold makes the rules.
way to go sigma chi..
“MADD-(mother against drunk driving) have a simple philosophy, they dont condone drinking, they condone drinking irresponsibly.”
…do you know what condone means?
Its only registered events through UCF so that only means socials are dry. You can still go out and drink, have parties, etc.
In response to “UCF Student”:
“Excellent decision. Maybe now fraternities can start to concentrate on building bonds, friendships and creating ‘men of honor’ through better foundations than alcohol, hazing rituals, parties and many of the other superficial values that currently underlie the Greek system.”
Your ignorance of our school Greek system is clearly depicted by that portion of your comment. Alcohol is not a foundation for us, our Nationals prohibits pledges from drinking during their pledge period. Furthermore, it prohibits all underage drinking, and every member is subject to a drug test. Hazing ended in the early 90s, and I have yet to see anyone hazed since. As for Men of Honor, look no further than our own SGA to notice that the majority of SGA members are Greeks. The Vice President of SGA is also the President of IFC. Men of Honor indeed we are.
“Looks like many of the brothers who have read this article are really starting to question the fundamental principles behind fraternities now that alcohol is banned? Shame that so many of you guys feel that drinking is one of the main focuses of being in greek life. Whatever happened to philanthropy, character building, becoming role models in our local communities and molding better men for a better world??? The real goals and objectives of Greek life seem to have disappeared and the whole Greek system is waaaay outdated and needs to be modernized or shutdown for good!”
My chapter donated personally over $5,000 to philanthropies in the last year, and raised over $4,000 for similar nationally recognized philanthropies. I personally in the past year have spent over 200 hours of my time working on or at community service projects, philanthropy events, and others of the sort. I spent a full day with a 6 year old girl diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy; she had the time of her life. What have you done for your community? Oh, and I’m sorry, but if you walk into FUBAR, Deko, Library, and Devaney’s, take a head count of Greeks vs. Non-Greeks. You’ll notice that we are way outnumbered by non-greeks that drink, both of age, and underage. Get back on your skateboard and move along geed, your misinformed and inaccurate statements aren’t needed.
2 years ago a non-greek freshman wrapped his car around a pole driving home drunk from TD’s and died. Were all non-greeks prohibited from drinking? nope.
Excellent decision. Maybe now fraternities can start to concentrate on building bonds, friendships and creating ‘men of honor’ through better foundations than alcohol, hazing rituals, parties and many of the other superficial values that currently underlie the Greek system.
Looks like many of the brothers who have read this article are really starting to question the fundamental principles behind fraternities now that alcohol is banned? Shame that so many of you guys feel that drinking is one of the main focuses of being in greek life. Whatever happened to philanthropy, character building, becoming role models in our local communities and molding better men for a better world??? The real goals and objectives of Greek life seem to have disappeared and the whole Greek system is waaaay outdated and needs to be modernized or shutdown for good!
Even more of a reason that this action by OFSL and the Greek Council is unfair, and simply to cover themselves from scrutiny, is that all Greek Organizations file plans of action in regards to social events, alcohol consumption, etc. every six months. These plans are APPROVED by OFSL. Just because one organization fails to file an approvable plan of action, or fails to follow that plan of action, which is what the University is claiming, doesn’t mean an action against all Greeks should occur. The e-mail stated that “until we can determine what our plan of action can is, a moratorium has been placed on all wet events…”.
Well, I’m not sure what OFSL, Greek Council, and UCF’s plan of action is, and why the previous ones that were filed and approved are now considered unacceptable or void. But the organizations affected by this moratorium HAVE plans of action, filed and approved, by OFSL, prior to this event. The remaining Greek Organizations should not be punished for the failure of one organization to file an event with OFSL, or to not have followed their plan of action for an event.
Well, UCF needs to ban driving on campus. We have had a student die before, and the only rational thing to do in order to protect the safety of our students is to BAN ALL DRIVING TO AND FROM ANY UCF EVENT AND/OR LOCATION. Makes sense right?
As somebody who’s way outgrown my drinking years, I just have a hard time getting upset about this.
If this “ban” isn’t lifted in a timely matter (a.k.a. before the week is over) IFC as a whole is going to have a horrible recruitment. “response to LOL” is correct no one is going to want to join an organization that hinders their constitutional right to be able to drink responsibly as a 21 year old. I would not be surprised if the Panhellenic sororities also see a drop in retention rates of their members because of this. Putting such a harsh rule into place over so many organizations is not going to change anyone’s behavior, but in fact just make people bitter and lash out. We will see unregistered socials occurring and Greeks just going out to local bars to get wasted, both of which can end up having worse consequences than a supervised, registered event. I dont think anyone in the Greek and UCF community want to remember Ann’s death in such a bitter way as will happen if this ban is not lifted.
We should instead focus as a Greek community on educating our brothers and sisters on responsible drinking. Make it absolutely mandatory for every person in the Greek community to have to attend one of many different seminars that can be set up to accommodate everyones schedules. The seminars can teach students responsible drinking, alternative methods for getting home safely that don’t involve getting in a car, and most importantly how to take care of a fellow brother/sister that may have had too much to drink so that we can avoid deaths like Ann’s from ever happening again.
I hope the UCF Greek Council wisens up and lifts this ban before permanent consequences occur in our Greek community because of it.
In response to “To say this policy is unconstitutional is beyond retarded.”
I will keep this brief, as I have much more important things to do today than argue with an anonymous person on Knightnews.
Due process clause states that: “The fifth amendment prevents individuals from being deprived of life, liberty, or property without “due process of law.” Due process extends to all persons and corporate entities.”
I am a person, involved in an established and recognized national organization. Myself, and those in my organization, are being deprived our liberties of legally consuming alcohol, without due process. We have not been accused, nor charged of any crime, and to punish us due to the actions of another organization breaches this amendment.
Please explain how I am beyond retarded.
In response to this –
Bullshit: “This is bullshit. Why even join a fraternity anymore?”
LOL: “Oh so people don’t really join for the brotherhood? Turns out it’s just about drinking after all…”
Completely incorrect. but think about it, if joining an organization is going to limit your RIGHTS (believe it or not, drinking is actually a right, given to an individual when hitting the age of 21. It is not a privilege. It for some reason remains every American Citizens CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT to get belligerently drunk, so long as they do not break any other laws in the process, drive, injure anyone, etc.) then why are you going to join?
A new student comes to college and says – oh well I could join a Fraternity… but then I wouldn’t be allowed to drink. I don’t even like to drink that much, but the idea of NOT BEING ALLOWED to drink is enough of a deterrent for me to not go greek.
To say this policy is unconstitutional is beyond retarded. Maybe some light reading (http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/constitution_transcript.html) is in order?
This violates the due process for all Fraternities. The entire community cannot legally be punished for the actions of one of its members.
Also, where are the tox reports? why haven’t these been released? It is still highly speculative that her death was caused by alcohol.
This will only force Greek’s to hold all their events underground, without approval and appropriate safety measures, will completely ruin the greek community, and isn’t going to do anything to curb the drinking at UCF.
Again, they aren’t allowed to do this, I’ve received a copy of the e-mail, and I’ve begun calling the appropriate people. Take a look at what happened to USC with Rush to see exactly what I’m talking about, its the same exact scenario. (Editor’s note: comment edited at request of comment author)
“This is bullshit. Why even join a fraternity anymore?”
Oh so people don’t really join for the brotherhood? Turns out it’s just about drinking after all…
First of all what happened to Ann Hefferin is terrible, and no matter who you are, greek or not, we should all sympathize and remember her…
1. Banning alcohol on such events until further notice is very silly, Many will find it an excuse to drink heavily for the remaining events to which the bann does not cover or make up for the ones lost to the bann.
2. MADD-(mother against drunk driving) have a simple philosophy, they dont condone drinking, they condone drinking irresponsibly. The message you are sending to students just states its not ok at such time, but continue to do what you do when we say its time to drink.
3. By banning alcohol on events you are limiting where many organizations can go on a limited budget. Even if students wanted to have a networking event by having dinner together at their local two jays or Library they could not, as they serve alcoholic beverages. Students seeing as they cant really go anywhere will just increase their amount of time at dekbro or library. And thus makes the bann useless.
What you should do:
4. Memorial for Ann- When i went to the candlelight memorial for ANN, i saw all students greek and non showing their support. Instead of banning alcohol until further notice, you should create a yearly discussion pannel/ education seminar(or something of this nature). It should be sponsored by the greek community and open to non greeks who are seeking advice/knowledge. By having the greek organizations attend the event greek students will be able to meet fellow greeks and talk/learn about the effects of alcohol and possibly drugs. This seminar will make the greek community stronger and more united. Students will be able to learn about ANN’s story and others, and how they were great individuals. Rather than having students remember ANN for a certain amount of weeks due to a ban
4. By doing this instead of having each chapter turn in forms and more forms. guarantees that students learn about the effects BEFORE these events occur, and makes it easier on those who hold positions as they dont need to turn in those papers.
There are so many problems with this that I hardly know where to begin. I understand the UCF Community is affected by the recent loss, but I seriously doubt even registering the party would have prevented the loss. Furthermore, why punish those that DID follow the rules? You might as well say that because one UCF student died, all UCF must be dry. It’s just as unfair to punish all the fraternities and sororities that followed the rules. What should be pushed right now is responsible drinking, and not the silly AOD presentations that teach you how alcohol affects you and give you a BAC card.
Again, I’m sorry for the loss, but prohibition has never worked. Once the ban is lifted, people will return to old habits unless given the proper tools to change, as well as having the drive to change.
It’s also pretty naive to think that people who don’t follow the rules are just going to follow this new rule. Try ENFORCING rules, for a change. Yet, anything at this point is still premature, because we still don’t know how much alcohol has played into this. It could have been a medical condition, or mixing medications, or drugs, or an over-consumption of alcohol. Until we know what was actually at fault, we can’t just send a blanket statement to all Greeks ordering them to quit.
This is bullshit. Why even join a fraternity anymore?