Rollins College announced the suspension of all fraternity life activities on campus until further notice on Wednesday, Knight News learned.

After reviewing student concerns, the fraternity activities suspended were a result of high-risk behaviors that affected the ‘safety and well-being’ of students, according to a statement received from Rollins to Knight News.

Only fraternities are included in this suspension – no sororities have been reported to be suspended as of Wednesday morning.

All chapter privileges will be denied and chapters won’t be allowed to conduct meetings or activities, said Rollins Assistant Vice President Megan Harte Weyant. Rollins administrators have begun meeting with each fraternity, the report continues.

This is a developing story. Knight News has reached for comment.

Even though Rollins operates as a private institution, school officials may answer to the law should a lawsuit be filed by the organizations affected.

The Third District Court in Gamma Phi Chapter of Sigma Chi Fraternity v University of Miami held that “as a matter of law, the sanctions – including a suspension of ‘rushing’ – imposed by the University on the appellant fraternity by virtue of the letter of October 15, 1997 adversely affected its ‘substantial property, contract or other economic rights’ and were based on an ex parte fact-finding process which was neither adequate nor fair.”

This case mirrored what took place University of Central Florida Greek System in 2013.

In a letter obtained by Knight News from North-American Interfraternity Conference Attorney Francis E. Pierce to W. Scott Cole of UCF in 2013, an immediate end to Greek Life suspension at UCF was sought, including the ‘Way Forward’ reinstatement presentation that chapters prepared.

“We hereby demand that the University immediately end the current suspension of all fraternity and sorority activities. We also demand cancellation of the use of the process called the ‘Way Forward’ as a prerequisite for reinstatement,” Pierce wrote in the letter.

The university backed down from its position shortly after this letter, Knight News reported.

Letter reproduced:

Dear Campus Community,

Yesterday, I reviewed a series of student conduct concerns as they are related to our Fraternity community. The concerns included high risk behaviors on behalf of all six of our fraternities. This afternoon with the support of Interfraternity Council (IFC) and the Chapters, I issued a temporary suspension on all Fraternity Life activities until further notice. During the temporary suspension period, all chapter privileges are denied and chapters are not allowed to conduct meetings or activities. This decision was made for the safety and wellbeing of all our Fraternity and Sorority Life students and the community at large.

I am encouraged by the deep commitment of our IFC and Chapter Presidents to the health and wellbeing of our community. They exhibited both creative leadership and engaged citizenship today as they came together to commit to a plan for the good of our community over the interest of any one individual chapter. In the upcoming weeks, I will be working closely with the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life, IFC and Chapter Presidents to determine a best plan of action to more closely align the vision and values of the fraternity experience with the academic mission of Rollins. We will work to strengthen the fraternity community at large, as well as work with individual chapters to support their positive growth and engagement within the campus community.

Jazmine Rodriguez, Director of Fraternity and Sorority Life, and I have already begun meeting with individual chapters. IFC has committed their weekly time and spring agenda to this committed alignment with the College mission, and our Presidents have agreed to commit time weekly to leading this process. All traditionally scheduled Greek Week activities (slated for the last week of March) will be cancelled. We will instead be planning and implementing a series of Fraternity and Sorority Life Summits that work to align organizational values and behavior with the College’s mission. I will be requesting that each of our organizations has National Headquarter representation present at the summit.

We know that our community is concerned about the health and safety of our students, and understand this letter may prompt further questions or concerns. The Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life can be reached at 407-691-1048. Additionally, the office will hold open office hours Thursday, February 23 from 9:00am-12:30pm and from 2:30-5:00pm should you want to direct any question or concerns in person.

As always, I am happy to answer any questions or concerns our community may have. I want to close, with reiterating my support for Fraternity and Sorority Life at Rollins. Our Fraternity leaders have committed to re-centering their community on responsible leadership and global citizenship, and empowering their chapters to deeply and more fully explore the importance of our commitment to leading meaningful lives and productive careers. I continue to be inspired by our students and student leaders. I hope you will join me in supporting the fraternity community through this process.

All the best,

Meghan Harte Weyant, Ph.D.

Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students | Rollins College