By snoadmin
Not everybody gets to apologize for excessive party rocking like the pop group LMFAO does.
This is the case of Mason Sumnicht, a pledge of Chico State’s Sigma Pi chapter, who paid with his life. Sumnicht died of alcohol poisoning 11 days after his 21st birthday. He had gone out with his friends in celebration and had way more alcohol than his body could handle.
Sumnicht’s death came on the heels of 11 other incidents this past year in which Greek brothers and sisters committed illegal acts and violations against Chico State’s policy. Thus administration suspended all Greek activities associated with the campus.
This includes socials, festivals, meetings, elections and most definitely parties.
All Greek houses are being asked to remove or hide their letters. If they do not, the administration will look at this as insubordination and think twice when considering to reinstate that fraternity or sorority once the suspension is lifted.
With the way Chico State’s Greek life was heading, the administration felt the only way to regain control was to suspend the Greeks altogether. However, this was a terrible decision.
As tragic as Sumnicht’s death was, the administration neglected to realize the situation took place somewhere other than a fraternity house. Who’s to say Sumnicht’s involvement in Sigma Pi contributed to his death? Even if it did, it isn’t fair that every other fraternity and sorority on campus must suffer due to one person’s mistake.
While Chico State’s reaction continued building throughout a year of Greek infractions, a lot of these instances could be atoned to a small group of irresponsible people.
Not every member of the Greek life is a culprit in these situations. Actually, the amount is very minimal.
Even though all Greek life is suspended, it does not mean the group of people who hold a fraternity or sorority together will be disbanded.
Greeks are already very good at secrecy. While there can no longer be blatant Greek parties, who’s the say Greeks cannot throw underground shindigs? Even though they are gone for now, the Greeks will realize they need to still be recruiting during their suspension. They cannot afford to fully disband during this suspension. Instead, they will just have to be clever.
College students drink. College students make mistakes. Sumnicht never should have died, but he did, and everyone, not just the Greeks, should take notice. It can happen to anyone if he or she is not careful. Yet, blaming the entire Greek systems for isolated instances just seems too rash.
Chico State jumped the gun on this one.
