UofM Greek Life News Articles

This page contains news articles from various media outlets reporting on events involving the Greek community at the University of Michigan. Two local sources are primarily used: MLive (formerly Ann Arbor News) and the Michigan Daily (UofM student-run newspaper).

Topics are grouped as follows: changes to recruiting (eliminating fall rush for freshmen); the disaffiliation of several UofM fraternity chapters from IFC and the creation of AAIFC; reports of hazing; the censure or suspension of other fraternity Chapters; and other stories related to student life or the Greek community. The same incident or event may be bookmarked from multiple sources for a different perspective; some events were significant enough to result in multiple articles over the course of days or weeks. (Some news articles related to zoning revisions can be found on the City of Ann Arbor page.)

Within each topic, news articles are arranged in reverse chronological order by publication date. Clicking on story links will open a new window.

Winter Recruiting:

Effective in the 2019-2020 academic year, a new University policy took effect which changed eligibility requirements for students wishing to join a fraternity. The new policy states that students need to have completed a minimum of 12 credit hours to participate in 'fall recruitment/intake' (the new term used for what we know as rush). Effectively this prevents all first-term freshmen from rushing fraternities during the fall term, which (due to current rental conditions in Ann Arbor) is usually when students are seeking housing for the next academic year. Chi Phi was one of several fraternities who ignored this policy and rushed freshmen in the fall of 2019.

Fraternity disaffiliation from IFC / Creation of AAIFC:

In response to new city zoning code restrictions implemented by the Ann Arbor City Council in July 2018, and the University’s decision earlier in 2018 to defer rushing to the winter semester beginning January 2020 (part of the First Year Experience plan), six fraternity chapters disaffiliated from the IFC and created their own independent oversight organization, the Ann Arbor Interfraternity Council. Fraternities that disaffiliated in August 2018 included: Theta Chi, Psi Upsilon, Alpha Epsilon Pi, Alpha Sigma Phi, Delta Chi, and Phi Sigma Kappa. Four fraternities - Delta Sigma Phi, Delta Tau Delta, Delta Upsilon and Psi Upsilon — hold membership in both bodies. At one point Chi Phi was also listed as a member, but it is unclear whether this was a clerical error or if the undergraduate membership joined without informing ATCHA or National.

What does disaffiliation from IFC mean?
Disaffiliation means the chapters can still operate on campus but will not be able to access certain programs and resources, such as the Greek Activities Review Panel, the Social Responsibility Committee and safety and anti-hazing task forces. Fraternities are still subject to University and national headquarters oversight, regardless of council affiliation. (from Michigan Daily article)

Censure/Suspension of other Fraternity Chapters:

The stories compiled in this section document how several other chapters have been censured or suspended by the University of Michigan or their respective national headquarters. Typically censure or suspension is applied by both UofM and the national organization, though there have been exceptions (notably, Sigma Alpha Epsilon in the mid-2010s).

Greek letters indicate chapter affiliation where it is not explicitly shown in the headline.

Other Stories: