Fraternities and sororities have been placed on a social moratorium after the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life discovered one of Marshall’s Greek chapters violated social conduct rules. The halt of all activities including alcohol will be in place until the Greek community is informed otherwise.

“The reason we are on social moratorium is because of high risk behavior in the community,” Nick Wright, the director of Fraternity and Sorority Life, said. “I don’t want to place blame on just this one chapter, but we need to take a closer look into the social culture here and how to make sure everyone is being safe.”

Fraternity and Sorority Life received a video from an anonymous source Friday evening that showed one of Marshall’s Greek organizations participating in an event that was expected to be dry. A dry event means there will be no alcohol present.

The video showed alcohol was present, at least one person can be seen vomiting on camera, and members appeared to be playing a drinking game. Drinking games are prohibited by the Fraternal Information & Programming Group and is outlined in its risk management guidelines. These guidelines were outlined for each Greek organization at a Risk and Harm Prevention meeting in February.

Wright said he decided to coordinate with his governing council to decide what actions should be taken after receiving the video. The presidents of the National Pan Hellenic Council, the Pan Hellenic Council and the Interfraternity Council came together to discuss an appropriate response to the information.

The social moratorium only prohibits fraternities and sororities from offering events where alcohol is present. The community is still allowed to have philanthropy events as well as brotherhood and sisterhood events.

Sabel Meadows, the president of the PHC, said she encouraged the sororities on campus to view the social moratorium as a learning experience.

“I told them to try to look at the situation with a positive view,” Meadows said. “We can still get together with other groups, and we can just work on getting to know each other better, which is never a bad thing.”

Fraternity and Sorority Life has also recognized that there are multiple rumors floating around campus regarding the cause for the moratorium. Cameron Sherwood, the president of the Interfraternity Council, released a statement on behalf of the IFC to the Greek Community, asking students to understand rumors do not help the situation.

“As we continue to move forward, we are asking for everyone’s patience and an end to the dissemination of misinformation,” Sherwood said. “Rumors will only hinder the process and impede the investigations.”

Fraternity and Sorority Life is also working with a safety task force that is working toward developing a comprehensive set of rules for social environments. According to Sherwood’s letter, the Greek community can expect an update on the status of the social moratorium within the next two weeks.

Sarah Ingram can be contacted at [email protected].