Pictures of students drinking posted on Facebook prompted Towson University to place five sororities on probation, school officials said Monday.
The university sanctioned eight sororities and forbade five of them ? Alpha Omicron Pi, Alpha Phi, Phi Mu, Phi Sigma Sigma and Zeta Tau Alpha ? from holding parties, formals or other social events until spring break as punishment for drinking before and during last month?s Bid Day, when Greeks recruit new members and tackle them.
Reports of injuries and pictures of drinking surfacing on Facebook, a social-networking site, led university officials to take action, said Patrick Daniel, the university?s director of student activities.
On Bid Day, pledges run toward their prospective sorority sisters at Burdick Field, and their sisters tackle them.
This year, several students were injured during the tackling, and ambulances were called. Some students were charged with underage drinking, but the university found no evidence that pledges were drinking, too, Daniel said.
“The members said drinking was a tradition for Bid Day and something that has been ?passed down,?” he said.
“I informed them that this is not a positive celebration and the last year of traditions.”
Social-networking sites have provided college officials with new evidence to use when cracking down on student drinking.
“The more aware Greek advisers get, the more the sororities ? whether out of the goodness of their hearts or out of fear of being sued ? go underground,” said Hank Nuwer, a national expert on hazing and author of “Wrongs of Passage: Fraternities, Sororities, Hazing and Binge Drinking.”
“But with Facebook and Myspace, it?s no longer underground, and either students see nothing wrong with it or are arrogant that the university is blind.”
Brittany Kinka, president of the Panhellenic Association, which represents the sanctioned sororities, said many sorority sisters felt the social probation was unfair.
“I think it took a lot of people by surprise and a lot of people thought it was harsh, but people are accepting it and using this time to concentrate on philanthropic work,” she told The Towerlight, Towson?s student newspaper.
The sanctioned Towson sororities were ordered to participate in Towson Clean Up on Saturday, when students pick up trash in the community.
