On Monday, Florida State University announced an indefinite suspension of all fraternities and sororities following the death of a student after an off-campus fraternity party, the Tallahassee Democrat reports. In a statement posted to the website of the FSU Office of Fraternity and Sorority life, Florida State University President John Thrasher said that he wanted to "send a serious message. ... We've got a serious problem."
On Friday morning, 20-year-old FSU student and Pi Kappa Phi fraternity pledge Andrew Coffey was found unresponsive after a house party a mile from campus. Although Coffey was given medical treatment, he died on the scene. Pi Kappa Phi's operations at FSU were immediately suspended.
In an unrelated case, Garret John Marcy, a member of the Phi Delta Theta fraternity, was arrested Monday for the sale and trafficking of cocaine. Thrasher cited Marcy's arrest in his statement announcing the fraternity and sorority ban. "For this suspension to end," Thrasher said, "there must be a new culture, and our students must be full participants in creating it."
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FSU also announced a ban on alcohol at all events sponsored by recognized student organizations — of which there are more than 700. USA Today notes that 22 percent of all FSU undergraduates belong to a Greek organization, which amounts to 7,588 students for this year.
In July, a Harvard University faculty committee proposed banning undergraduates from joining fraternities and sororities in an attempt to limit "pernicious behavior." Pennsylvania State University also announced restrictions on Greek life and a permanent ban for the Beta Theta Pi fraternity earlier this year after a student was killed in a hazing event.
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