Two complaints against the Phi Gamma Delta (FIJI) fraternity campus chapter have been filed to the Fraternities Committed to Safety (FCS) website regarding a May 5 party hosted at the fraternity house on University Avenue.
The FCS agreement, which all 10 fraternities re-signed in April, states that any social event must have water “readily available in a sealed, clearly labeled water cooler” throughout the duration of the event, with one cooler per active floor. The two separate complaints allege that FIJI did not provide water at all during the event.
The same May 5 FIJI party has been a source of controversy on campus after several multicultural student organizations called the party “racially insensitive,” because it was “construction” themed and was hosted on Cinco de Mayo.
First-year Anna Attie was at the party when she became concerned about one of her friends and sought a cup of water. When she looked around for water coolers—which she knew were required by FCS—she couldn’t find any. When she asked the brother behind the bar, he said the fraternity didn’t have any water.
“It was pretty off-putting, especially because even if it was the case that because they were under construction they didn’t have running water, they could have at least offered plain mixer or asked to see the person I was worried about,” Attie said. “[Instead] they were very dismissive.”
One of Attie’s friends, who requested anonymity, accompanied her to the party and confirmed that they were told there was no water.
“We were not offered a cup of mixer or asked about whether everyone is OK. In addition, when I got a drink at the bar and specifically asked for a single shot, I was given four inches of Fireball in a Solo cup—clearly way more than a shot in a cup that comes with a marker,” the friend said.
Attie also said that because the fraternity house was still under construction, several students were injured by the exposed wood blocking certain doorways.
Looking to file a complaint, Attie and the other individual e-mailed Phoenix Survivors Alliance (PSA), the sexual assault survivor advocacy group on campus. PSA submitted the violations to the FCS website, since the students did not know how to submit a complaint.
In an interview with The Maroon, PSA co-leader Meg Dowd called the frequency at which PSA received complaints that were not sent to FCS “alarming.”
Attie's friend also reported the incident to her sorority. According to the friend, the sorority is “currently voting on whether to discontinue mixers with specific frats.”
When asked about the reported violations at the FIJI party, Ilan Haskel, chapter president of Alpha Epsilon Pi (AEPi) who operates the FCS website, said the online form that PSA filled out sends a direct e-mail notification to the site moderator. Haskel then forwards the purported violations to a listhost composed of all Greek life presidents.
“I can personally say that upon every violation, I immediately share the report with every signee of the document,” Haskel said. “We certainly appreciate the feedback and would like people to be confident that their submissions are reaching their intended set of ears.”
“As such, we are working on updating the website with an updated response system, including an automated message upon submission stating clearly that a member of the relevant fraternity will get in touch regarding the violation shortly,” he said.
According to Haskel, FIJI chapter president Clyde Anderson was quick to confirm that he read the report, and additionally expressed intent to internally address the reported violation “as soon as possible.”
Anderson told The Maroon that the fraternity received the complaints and that it is “working internally to ensure the safety and well-being of [its] guests,” but did not comment further about the specific incident.
Of the three complaints Dowd has personally filed with the website, she has neither received a receipt of submission nor been contacted by a fraternity. At the time of publication, neither Attie nor her friend had been contacted by any member of FIJI about the incident.
