by Audrey Farris ‘25

In early March, University of Maryland announced that it was conducting an investigation into 14 sororities and 21 fraternities shortly after ordering all Greek Life chapters on campus to halt social and recruitment activities. The university announced the order in a letter which explained it has reason to believe multiple Greek Life chapters have been involved in activities that threaten the safety of community members. However, UMD did not provide specific details to support this claim, leaving many confused and disheartened. Some argue that they are being subjected to punishment without due process.

Hazing has been a prominent issue for decades, but many universities are still figuring out the correct way to handle hazing situations. In this one, it seems as though UMD did what its administrators felt was the best action to keep as much information private as possible while they were still conducting investigations. Still, UMD should suspend the fraternities and sororities that are specifically under investigation, while allowing the chapters that are not to continue with normal operations. Punishing all Greek Life chapters for a problem that is only the fault of a few is more likely to cause division and conflict on campus, amplifying the issue and making it into something it is not.