Shutterstock
In September, we reported on the death of Joseph Little, an 18-year-old Phi Gamma Delta pledge who died on August 29 after suffering a seizure in his College Station apartment.
Now — after suspending the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity until 2022 for allegations of hazing, drug use, and alcohol violations — Texas A&M is further addressing how they plan to implement “culture changes” to their Greek life organizations.
Christine Gravelle, the Director of Student Affairs at Texas A&M, said that in order to bring about a culture change to the university’s fraternities and sororities, they will be forming committees, hosting webinars, hosting dialogues, bringing in speakers such the ‘Love, Mom and Dad’ event.
“I hope they took away that we can work together to make some changes and have it be a safe environment for all of our students,” Gravelle said.
As for Phi Gamma Delta — the fraternity that Little was joining — they were suspended by the Student Organization Accountability Board until January 2022. The terms of their suspension means that the fraternity cannot participate in university activities. Furthermore, the fraternity is not allowed to use university facilities.
Texas A&M University is just the latest major American college to bring a massive overhaul to their Greek life system.
Schools and universities all across the country have installed sweeping and systematic changes to their Greek life organizations in an effort to thwart the alcohol and hazing-related incidents that have been occurring at fraternities over the decades.
