BREAKING: Intercultural Resource Center to receive no sanctions (UPDATED)
According to a spokesperson from Student Affairs, the Intercultural Resource Center will not receive any sanctions following a three-month-long review of the IRC and the three fraternities associated with the December drug bust.
The spokesperson, when asked about the University’s decision with regard to the IRC, said in an email:
The IRC will be permitted to function as it has in the past.
The IRC was reviewed independently and afforded the same considerations as the three fraternities. As we were interested in several years of history rather than one incident, we took a number of factors into account.
Unlike the fraternities, the IRC is not a membership-based organization. Instead, those who wish to reside in the IRC must take part in an annual application process. Therefore, we made a greater distinction between the actions of one individual and the activities of the organization.
Furthermore, our review revealed that the IRC’s contributions to the Columbia community over the past several years have been overwhelmingly positive. Its mission is to promote a just society and explore issues of interculturalism and diversity within and beyond the Columbia University community. Our review found the activities of the IRC over the past several years consistent with this mission.
As for why the IRC’s decision was released separately, the spokesperson answered:
It was merely a matter of timing and our ability to gather these various communities together. We wanted to be sure to inform the fraternity chapters in enough time to give students a chance to enter into the housing lottery for next year, so we did that as soon as a decision was finalized.
UPDATE: The residents of the IRC have issued a statement regarding the University’s decision. They’re appreciative the University noted their positive body of work, say that “the loss of such a space would have been a detriment to Columbia,” and “plan to continue our commitment to intercultural dialogue.” Full statement after the jump.
Full statement from the residents of the IRC:
March 4, 2011
As a community dedicated to the promotion of social justice, intercultural exchange, and community empowerment, we feel fortunate to maintain the space that enables us to execute our programming and our mission. Since 1989, the Intercultural Resource Center has provided a forum for education and social exchange that encourages self-discovery and a greater awareness and appreciation of cultural history within and between communities on campus. From what we understand, it is our active commitment to this mission, as well as the high academic achievement and limited disciplinary infractions of our residents that has prompted Student Affairs to allow the IRC to remain open.
Following the December arrests of five Columbia students, the administration embarked on a review process to evaluate the housing facilities with which the students were affiliated. When reviewing the IRC, Dean Martinez took note of our five programming committees and their continued service to the campus community. On a weekly basis, we coordinate events such as community discussions, performances, art galleries, and service opportunities. The IRC provides a space for students from marginalized communities to feel safe, valued, and empowered on this campus. The loss of such a space would have been a detriment to Columbia.
With this renewed opportunity, we plan to continue our commitment to intercultural dialogue. These events have certainly shaken our community. However, they have allowed us to examine and reevaluate the interpersonal communication within our walls. As we move forward, we plan to do so with this experience in mind.
The Residents of the Intercultural House
This is actually the biggest load of shit I have ever heard in my life. They should be held to the exact same standards as the other frats. This is prejudice in action- not punishing this organization as a whole for the actions of one of its residents is crap. The kid sold drugs out of that house. He used it in the same way the other drug dealers used their houses. They should lose their house.
The frats were all lumped together because of the stigma that a fraternity has, when in fact, each fraternity brings different things to the table. One of the three fraternities actually has the highest GPA of any organization on campus (greek and non-greek), just to name one example.
This is beyond fucked up, and sorry IRC, but you should be homeless like the rest of us.
“the other frats”
>>Implying that the IRC is a fraternity.
loooooool. It’s not. You’re an idiot.
“…each fraternity brings different things to the table.”
So I guess for Pike that would be… what…? The GHB?
this is truly a crime. as someone who spent time in both the fraternities and the IRC before the bust, I can tell you that the IRC’s operation was conducted far more openly and was way better known to members of the house than was true in the frats. the IRC busted kid even had a roomate! the IRC consistently smelled STRONGLY of weed in the hallways, and it is specifically known by NYPD that sales were made in the IRC’s common room, something not true for all the frats.
basically, columbia is trying to cover their own PR facade and protect their own personal interests and pet projects at the expense of student life and interests of those actually affected. I am sad, ashamed and disappointed in columbia university’s community, its administration, and mankind.
shit
agreement
as a resident of the IRC, there’s some things I think need to be said:
i too, and i know i speak for many other residents as well, think that it was really extreme and unfortunate that the fraternities lost their houses.
that being said, i hope that the columbia community doesn’t take out their frustration on the losses of these frat houses on the IRC community. we didn’t make the decision, the administration did.
so glad to be out of this shit hole with its bureaucratic crap and favoritism and its obvious double standards. columbia doesn’t care about its undergraduates, it never did. if i ever strike it rich, u can kiss the possiblity of any donations from me GOODBYE
100%
“u can kiss”
loooooool
Well, that’s complete bullshit.
Not sure how I feel about this…
Actually, I think this is def. the right call. While I think the frats shouldn’t have lost their housing, if one of them did, it shoulda been the frats.
fuck off GDI. this is BS affirmative action
(Insert white privilege here)
LOL RACISM.
complete bullshit. the IRC should be DONE, as they should be held to the same standards as the frats. the IRC shouldn’t even exist to begin with
Frats should unite and fight back.
This is unfair and completely rediculous. The fraternities have offered so much to the Columbia community…they run NSOP…
Only one chance to make a first impression and show the freshman this place is not lame.
Now it is and a lot of freshman will transfer when they see how much this place sucks.
“rediculous”
“a lot of freshman”
Really?
Also, lol, frats don’t run NSOP. What are you smoking? Still got some leftovers from Operation Ivy League? Or did you find a new source?
AEPi is a fraternity, the IRC is not. The distinction is that whereas the fraternity is an independent organization that is self-perpetuating and defines its own culture, the IRC is run directly by Columbia University, the people who live in the IRC are chosen by Columbia University, and the IRC is not an institution, but rather a group of people who live together.
It therefore makes no sense to place sanctions on the IRC because while frats are capable of and responsible for determining their own culture, the IRC is not. Punishing the IRC would not have any effect on future behavior.
correct ^
The distinction drawn in the first paragraph is meaningful. The reasoning in the second paragraph is specious.
AEPi is also the jewish fraternity. I hope you realize they also have their own identity and cultural connections.
I am willing to bet that each of these three fraternities have had more future CEOs and future Fortune 500 members walk out of their doors than the IRC will ever have. That is directly BECAUSE they are a fraternity and not for any reason. Fraternities breed a bond between men and between generations. It’s complete and utter shit that this school is willing to let these go.
I can guarantee that I will not be donating a cent to this school until my chapter gets a house back. I hope brothers who were also victims of this atrocity feel the same way. I loved what my fraternity and my house gave me in college. It’s a fucking shame to see that the younger guys in my house will not share this experience with me. It’s disgusting that Columbia would allow the college experiences of 100+ of their brightest minds to go to waste.
WHY DOESN’T ANYONE THINK ABOUT THE FUTURE CEOS?
THE POOR CEOs :( :( :(
I CRY FOR THEM. TRULY, I DO.
You want to know why these people turn into CEOs? Because their parents were rich enough to pay for their entree into the idiotic bro culture of Wall Street. That’s why. Not through any virtue of their own.
Where will the next generation of pinstripes do their ice luging? WHERE, I ask?
IT’S A FUCKING SHAME
TRULY.
We must consider: WHEN WILL COLUMBIA’S WAR ON FUN END THE ABILITY OF RICH WHITE MEN TO BUY THEIR WAY INTO THE IVY LEAGUE?
WHEN WILL IT END!?!?!?
The fraternities run NSOP? You mean, they endeavor to get freshmen girls drunk enough to do their bidding. They intend to generate enough distractions to keep freshmen inebriated instead of culturally excited for the opportunities of the greatest fucking city in the world. And as of October, now, I can safely say that they also induct a fair amount into the drug culture.
I’m not sure that the Columbia community has really lost anything from the stripping of these three fraternities of their brownstones. Greek culture on this campus is somewhat insignificant and the vast majority of students never hear of it or don’t interact with it. Some choose to, however, because the frats tend to have excellent drug connections, and the three so-indicted fraternities were *certainly* not the only “drug laden” fraternities on campus.
If I had my way, the whole block would be reallocated for special interest group housing. The IRC, for instance, is one student organization that actually makes a positive impact on the community, and should certainly be permitted to exist.
That being said, Columbia’s hands were tied when the NYPD came busting in and ruining the party for all of us. You little shits complain and promise never to donate a cent? Think about the legions of real alumni with connections and money who don’t want to think of their alma mater as an opium den. If you think you’re feeling ignominy because of the loss of the fraternities, you should consider the fact that “Operation Ivy League” did more to ruin the reputation of intellectualism in this country than it did to screw up your social life, and especially more to ruin the reputation of the school you’ve attended.
You don’t get it because you’re one of the pieces of shit that mooches on the fraternities without joining them.
At a typical party school, greek affiliation is between 10 and 25%, at Columbia it is around 12%. So saying that “the vast majority of students never hear of it or don’t interact with it” is as true as it is at a school like Berkeley or UCLA.
Do you even realize how much wealth has been gained by members of fraternities? Look up any famous or extremely successful person, and I can bet that 9 out of 10 of the people you search for were affiliated at one point with a fraternity in college. So don’t you dare say that we should not be permitted to exist.
You sound like a charming person!
I’m one of the people who has suffered from the culture of homophobia that fraternities breed and I have friends who have suffered from the misogyny and objectification of women that fraternities breed. Need I point to the fact that Pike is known as the “date rape frat”?
Come on, people. You cannot be serious.
But have you considered the FORTUNE 500?
But think of the CASH
Culture of homophobia???? Are you serious? Some of my best friends in the affected frats are open with their sexuality!
Whoa, whoa, whoa! Don’t tell Jack Kerouac or Allen Ginsberg that drug use is shameful to Columbia. Better yet don’t tell the administration because they might stop canonizing them as illustrious graduates. Last time I checked, a lot of our ‘real” alumni engaged in drug use while they were at college. As I seem to recall Jack Kerouac was a member of Phi Gamma Delta (also known as Fiji) who once upon a time also got kicked off of campus for illicit activity. Maybe you should research who some of the illustrious alumni of Columbia are before you go spouting off on your stupid diatribe. If Columbia wants to become a Police state, then say goodbye to creative and interesting graduates, “let’s all just fit the mold.”
I’m not defending drug use at Columbia, I’m just making the point that you are blindly making a statement that you know nothing about. Columbia (and the whole literary world for that matter) is very proud, still, to celebrate Alumni who in your opinion were shameful stains on your black and white version of an ideal school. Too bad, I’m on my way to becoming relatively successful myself, and if Columbia keeps up with the fascist reign over their new idea of a “happy” student life, then I will not hold the same awe for the “hands off” place I grew to love, and they will have lost the faith of yet another alumnus.
The students who go to this school are highly intelligent and should be allowed to make their own decisions without the “nanny state” keeping a big brother eye on them; ever waiting to pounce and destroy whatever they personally deem unworthy, without the input of the students or alumni. Dean Martinez, has absolutely no clue what the real spirit of Alma Mater is. It certainly isn’t creating a PR fiasco to make the school seem tolerant of minority group organizations and demonizing of what seem to be perceived as “white upper class fraternities” (Something far from the truth, as I believe the student arrested from Pike was Hispanic and on a scholarship. That is not a comment on race, but rather to make the point that some people are labeling fraternities incorrectly). If you want to be a tolerant place, Columbia, don’t create a double standard.
My father also went to Columbia, and when he did, the University would let the students show pornographic films, no joke, porn, in the student center. “Deepthroat” to be exact. The marching band was a complete joke, with one guy playing and electric guitar and another in a cow suit playing a triangle (should have been a cow bell, but that would have been too logical). And fraternities were a group of brilliant men who were allowed to blow off some steam at their own discretion. Please, don’t become complacent (or even worse, supportive) of the Universities new fascist policy to make the school more user friendly and PC to the Public. It will single handedly kill the Columbia spirit of individualism and plain “cookiness” that distinguishes us from the other Ivy Leaguers.
Columbia was always for the students who wanted to take the intellectual, yet subversive road in academics. Please don’t buy into main stream college culture that will destroy our beloved Alma Mater, she has created so many fantastic alumni just the way she was. Don’t let it become a school where only the opinion of a select few get to decide what is the correct way to behave, and subsequently oppress those who don’t conform or follow the rules. Then we’ll just become like Bucknell.
Let us be the brilliant, successful individuals who get to clown around because, in the end, it’s all about what you learn not what you do on the weekends or how we show off to other schools. Let us show off with erudition and subsequent mockery, and let us not take ourselves too seriously. In the end, we know we’re the brightest, we don’t have to show it off with a “polished” student life.
More furries in the marching band. That is the answer.
More drugs! More furries! More “cookiness!” More grammatical errors!
Funny, when I was finished writing that, I had my editor check it for bad grammar before I posted. He’s fired!
Presumably by “allowing fraternities to blow off some steam” you mean “letting them rape Barnard girls and go out for a nice hate crime now and then”?
Who are you? Read my post below. I was in one of those frats and neither of your allegations were true at all when I was there at least.
One of my pledge brothers was openly gay actually, forgot to mention that.
I’m friends with TONS of gay people, you guys!
I KNOW I CALLED YOU A FAG BUT THAT’S TOTALLY NOT HOMOPHOBIC BECAUSE I USED IT NOT IN A GAY WAY
Date Rape Frat!!!! Name one actual incident of date rape that has occurred! One factual incident, rather than speculation. I’m sure that would have been a much much bigger deal than the drug busts even!!! Stop speculating because you personally feel uncomfortable. Holy crap.
Facts people, facts….. And a story of “my friend Cindy once told her friend Shirley that told her friend Porsche who told Mia that she was harassed once in a fraternity.” Ever play telephone as a kid? It doesn’t usually lead to the truth. Seriously! Do the frats come to your door to call you bigoted anti gay terms? I highly doubt that. So stop being a bigot against them. Maybe everything has changed in the mentality of Frats in the five years I’ve been out, but I highly doubt that. No one was ever accused or engaged in any type of prejudiced or sexually harassing behavior when I was there. Do you just like to feel like an outcast who gets hated on so that the world feels sorry for you. Check yo-self (and factual accounts) before you wreck yo-self.
Well if no one accuses you, then it didn’t happen. Because every rape is reported, right you guys? …You guys?
I would find it very hard to believe that if chronic “date rape” was occurring that there would be no official reports, yes.
First, 40% of rape isn’t reported. Second, if someone is date raped, what evidence of rape would there be? If they’re knocked out, they can’t resist, so vaginal bruising would be minimal (assuming they’re girls, given the rampant homophobia of frats, yes, even at Columbia). No one is going to put themselves out there when they know that nothing is going to happen about it.
What about the other 60%. Do you know someone personally who got raped in a fraternity? Just because 40% of victims don’t report gives no justification that it is happening, your argument is really stupid.
All I’m saying is give some kind of factual story or evidence if you want to make an aggressive accusation against an organization. An organization that in my personal, first-hand experience, never ever engaged in either homophobia or “date rape.” I cannot speculate on what has happened post my graduation because I simply do not know, just as you can’t speculate, because, unless you can cite me a specific example you personally witnessed, then you don’t know either. Just because someone doesn’t come forward doesn’t mean something happened. I’m pretty sure when nothing happens no one comes forward either.
Straw man argument? Or INNOVATIVE—AND SO CONVENIENT!—NEW FORM OF HARASSMENT?
You are correct, I created a false accusation based on a false accusation, I should have kept my mouth shut. I am not being sarcastic, I apologize. I am no better than CC ’11.
But everyone should understand that these “date rape” and accusations of “hate crimes” have no real standing without evidence and are simply liable.
Even if they knew what was going on, what were these fraternities supposed to do? Had they come forward to the university about this themselves it would have likely had the same end result of an investigation and loss of the house… in fact if a single fraternity had exposed itself it might have faced an even harsher punishment as the university’s wrath would have been more focused.
Additionally, those who “rat out” drug dealers or even just try to remove them through internal measures might face unpleasant consequences from those dealers or their thuggish suppliers. An element of legitimate fear in coming forward should be considered
Essentially making a mistake in screening a single member had no other possible outcome than the loss of the fraternity houses. Interestingly the IRC made the same mistake and had a faculty member in-house to make sure that these mistakes could be caught. The IRC still failed to rectify their error even with in-house faculty and yet is allowed to go on as if nothing happed while three fraternities now struggle for survival without houses.
As for the claim that IRC contributes more to the Columbia community. I think far more students have had positive interaction with the Greek system than any interaction with the IRC. This is an assault on the Greek System and an assault on the social infrastructure of the university.
止まれ