Tilghman to consider banning frats

President Shirley Tilghman told the Princeton Alumni Weekly that she would consider banning fraternity and sorority organizations from campus, along with the options of maintaining the current policy of nonrecognition and moving to recognize and regulate the groups in a summer review of Greek policy.

"At the moment I am keeping an open mind about all options,” she added in a May 5 e-mail to the PAW.

The increased scrutiny comes in the wake of a 5-part series on Greek Life published April 26–30. In the first article in the series, John Burford ’12 described the hazing he underwent as a Sigma Alpha Epsilon pledge.

In the last article in the series, Tilghman expressed a firm backing of the current policy.

Tilghman said that she could not “in good conscience” back University recognition of the Greek organizations, since they were “antithetical to Princeton’s educational mission.”

Tilghman also said at the time that she did not support a ban. “The major thing that’s holding us back from doing something that dramatic is respecting freedom of association,” she said. “If I were to say what would get us beyond the freedom of association arguments, it would be the judgment that these organizations, particularly the fraternities, had simply pushed the envelope so far that we were now putting students’ lives at risk.”

But Tilghman told the PAW her administration will undergo a review of the policy over the summer. “The Prince articles have clearly brought forward vividly one of the reasons why we have not supported the recognition of these organizations,” she said. “I cannot promise, however, that there will be a change in policy.”