The Rutgers Controversy

Annette Bielen

ENGW 1102

Professor Young

April 16, 2015

What the new Rutgers ban really means

Rutgers University is currently home to 86 registered Fraternities and Sororities. Recently, all the mixers, parties, barbeques, and social events that play a big role in Greek life were all brought to a halt. Although this ban was done purely out of caution and concern, other students who participate in Greek life think differently. Students in Greek life see it as a punishment while administrators view it more as a way to improve Rutgers. Rutgers has always been known to be a party school where Greek life is a big part of college life. Why did Rutgers decide to ban all Fraternity and Sorority parties all of the sudden, and why wasn’t it done earlier? Many factors play a role in why Rutgers decided to ban all Fraternity and Sorority parties, but is this the best way to keep alcohol-related incidents from occurring?

 Due to the increase of alcohol related incidents this year, Rutgers decided to ban all fraternity and sorority events. One of the events that first started to grab Rutgers administers’ attention occurred at a Fraternity party. “In September, Rutgers student Caitlyn Kovacs, 19, of Monmouth Junction, died of alcohol poisoning after friends took her to the hospital after seeing her in distress at a party” (Kutner). Although authorities are still unaware if Kovacs participated in drinking at that party, it still caught many people’s attention. A few weeks later, another incident occurred involving yet another Fraternity party. “In a separate incident, a severely intoxicated 20-year old member of Sigma Phi Epsilon was hospitalized” (Kutner). As a consequence, in March, Sigma Phi Epsilon was ‘indefinitely suspended’ due to what had occurred concerning a hospitalized student. These are just the big tragedies that occurred that caused Rutgers to realize that something had to be done in order for the number of alcohol related incidents to stop. As more and more alcohol related incidents occurred, Rutgers started to look worse and worse and that is mainly why the ban as set. “The ban comes at a time when fraternities have had a run of bad publibilty” (Kutner). It took a long time for Rutgers to officially place a ban on Fraternities and Sororities because the incidents didn’t attract as much bad attention until the death of Caitlyn Kovacs. As one can now see, the main purpose of the ban is to prevent alcohol related incidents, which were mentioned above, from occurring twice.

Because of the many alcohol related incidents in the recent past, Rutgers believes that banning Fraternity and Sorority parties is the best way to solve the issue and lower the number of incidents. “The party ban is ‘out of caution and concern’” (Heyboer). This ban is only meant to improve and bring back good publicity to Rutgers. Also, the ban shows that Rutgers recognizes that there are many incidents occurring thereby showing they want to improve those issues and make Rutgers as good as it can be. “Rutgers takes seriously its commitment to maintaining a healthy and safe campus” (Kutner). If Rutgers does not take any action after those incidents that occurred, it would look as if Rutgers did not want anything to do with making their campus better. Is the ban the best way to solve this issue though? Of course not, there are many more efficient ways to solve it such as moving all Fratenties and Sorioties houses off campus that way it is not affiliated with Rutgers. However, any way this situation is approached, it is important to keep in mind that there is no easy way to stop college students from partying. After Kelly Heyboer did a poll, a participant named Vik stated “prohibition has never worked in any form. All this does is encourage students to have more off-campus apartment parties” (Heyboer). If parties are illegal to have on campus, students will move off campus and incidents will still occur. There is no way around it. Peter’s Liquors manager, Bill Kutz, states “Bottom line, the university can do whatever it wants, but these kids are still going to party” (Coleman). This is true. Therefore, banning Fraternity and Sorority parties is the best first step towards solving this issue. Rutgers is not the only school that has been known to have a dramatic increase in the number of alcohol related incidents, but Rutgers is definitely more publicized for it. 

Many incidents occurred recently at Rutgers University, which caused the ban of Fraternity and Sorority parties. This included the death of college student Caitlyn Kovacs and many other college students who were hospitalized due to intoxication at a Fraternity party. However, Rutgers took the right first steps in solving this issue. Though it may not be the best way to approach the number of alcohol related incidents, it will be help improve Rutgers image as well as it’s school overall.

Works Cited

Coleman, Vernal. "Reaction to Rutgers Frat Party Ban Mixed among Neighborhood Residents." Nj.com. NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, 9 Apr. 2015. Web. 20 Apr. 2015.

Heyboer, Kelly. "Poll: Is Rutgers' Ban on Fraternity and Sorority Parties Fair?" NJ.com. N.p., 7 Apr. 2015. Web. 16 Apr. 2015.

Kutner, Jenny. "Rutgers Bans All Frat Parties." Salon.com RSS. Salon, 6 Apr. 2015. Web. 20 Apr. 2015.