Racist chants. Nude photos of unconscious women. A criminal investigation into hazing. Fraternities around the country seem to be coming under fire as never before over behavior that would shock the frat boys of “Animal House.”
Despite a major national push to reduce drinking and sexual assault on campus and increase diversity, some fraternity chapters have failed to clean up their acts. Universities and the fraternities’ national offices are quickly punishing the offenders amid more promises of reform.
Some critics blame popular culture, saying it’s making fraternities essentially ungovernable.
“There’s this underlying acceptance that boys will be boys, this is fraternity life and this is what you have to accept when you walk through the doors of a fraternity,” Ellen Kramer, legal director of the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence, said last week.
Students walk through the Warren College and Moore College area at Vanderbilt University on Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2015, in Nashville.Defenders of fraternities say they do a lot of good work on campus and the focus on their misconduct is misguided.