10 fraternities cut ties with USC amidst ongoing crackdown on parties

A number of fraternities associated with the University of Southern California have opted to sever ties due to a strict set of rules imposed by the university in the wake of a series of sexual assault accusations made last year that stem from fraternity parties. 

"That really affects the women on campus because we can't go to their parties anymore without feeling threatened," said student Marlene Ayala. "The sexual assault and prevention and all that, they're just going to ignore it and do what they want."   

Of the 14 fraternities recognized by the institution's Interfraternity Council, 10 have cut ties, including Kappa Alpha Order, Pi Kappa Alpha, Sigma Alpha Mu, Sigma Chi, Tau Kappa Epsilon and Zeta Beta Tau.

The fraternities were given until Friday to decide if they planned to comply with the rules, which were detailed last year.

The rules call for increased security in hallways and stairwells at fraternity parties, prevention and sexual violence prevention education through university workshops and pre-event planning and post-event reviews — all monitored by the university's Fraternity Sorority Leadership Development (FSLD) Event Hosting Education Program. It also calls for a prolonged delay in "rush" for the Fall semester, instead beginning in January — potentially cutting a semester's worth of new members.

In response to the fraternities' decision to cut ties, USC issued a statement via Instagram that denounced the "detrimental" decision which "goes against 130 years of tradition." In full, it read: 

"We are disappointed that some USC fraternities are following an unfortunate national trend by disaffiliating from the university — against our strong recommendations. This decision seems to be driven by the desire to eliminate university oversight of their operations. The members are chafing at procedures and protocols designed to prevent sexual assault and drug abuse and deal with issues of mental health and underage drinking. They also object to not being able to rush freshmen in the fall – a practice that has been repeatedly shown to be unsafe for new students. In addition, they are pushing back at the time it takes to investigate serious issues like sexual assault. These investigations and their length are regulated by the state and federal government.

Like members of all unaffiliated organizations, their members will still be held to the same high standards of behavior as the rest of our students, but they will no longer receive the privileges afforded to university-sanctioned groups. Of course, as individuals, each USC student will continue to receive our full support. While disaffiliation of these fraternities affects a very small percentage of our student population, we care deeply about the well-being of our students. This decision is detrimental and goes against 130 years of tradition. We strongly urge students not to join these unaffiliated organizations or attend their events, and we will continue to uphold our high expectations for behavior in our neighboring communities."

In the wake of a series of sexual assault and drugging allegations made against USC fraternities in 2021, the school decided to implement new changes in order to ensure the safety of students while they partied. 

In addition to saying its student leaders are committed to safety, the newly formed University Park Interfraternity Council said it will continue to operate independently until its organizations are treated fairly.

"Over the past several years, the partnership between fraternity chapters and USC has been deteriorating with significant deterioration throughout the past year stemming from a USC suspension of nearly all organizational activities lasting more than 90 days," the University Park IFC said in a statement.

USC President Carol Folt acknowledged a noted delay in reporting these crimes to the campus community, even after receiving multiple reports of allegations against several fraternities in 2021. 

The disassociated group at USC now joins the likes of other fraternities across the nation that have cut ties with their schools, including the University of Colorado Boulder, University of Michigan and Duke University.

Overall, USC has 48 fraternities and sororities.