RICHMOND, Va. – After a fraternity pledge’s death from alcohol poisoning after a party earlier this year, Virginia Commonwealth University announced Monday that it will ban alcohol at fraternity and sorority events, publish misconduct instances online and pause new-member recruitment.
The announcement was made the same day two investigations of university Greek life were released concluding that there are concerns about hazing and binge drinking at the university and staff has struggled to address them, news outlets report. The investigations conducted by the university and consulting firm Dyad Strategies concluded that VCU isn’t an outlier compared to other universities, and that its Greek organizations generally provide a healthy culture and positive experience.
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The immediate remedies planned by VCU don’t address the deeply rooted problems of alcohol and hazing, according to Courtney White, Oakes’ cousin.
“Students expressed that most fraternities and some sororities have their own issues related to hazing, and a group that was fully free of any hazing would actually be the outlier on VCU’s campus,” one student said in the 65-page report.
Dyad did not attempt to interview members of Delta Chi, the fraternity expelled from the university after the death of Adam Oakes, who was found dead the morning after a fraternity party.