FIJI appeals suspension
Student views vary
By Katrina Garcia
The Collegian
News of a former student’s death and the suspension of the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity spread quickly throughout the Fresno State community.
Whether or not students have ever attended a fraternity party before or believe that a fraternity house is no different from “Animal House,” they all have different opinions on the university’s recent decision to ban FIJI for five years.
Angela Corchado, a junior pre-physical therapy major, thinks that FIJI’s punishment should not have been as severe and a one-year suspension would have been more appropriate.
“I think that’s too harsh,” Corchado said. “It’s the person’s decision of whether or not he wants to drink.
They’re a fraternity. It’s a place where people go to have fun.”
Corchado believes the university handed the fraternity such a stringent punishment only because it wanted to set an example for other fraternities and sororities. She also said that if Fresno State officials don’t want underage drinking to occur, they need to enforce the rules, because fraternities likely will not.
“If fraternities could get away with underage drinking, the university’s not doing a good enough job,” Corchado said.
Others disagree, citing the fact that a former student’s death should be grounds for a severe punishment.
“I think it’s right,” Valerie Miranda, junior pre-business and Chicano and Latino Studies major, said. “When somebody dies, you can’t be too strict.”
Miranda thinks the university will issue more severe penalties to fraternities that violate the rules, but that Fresno State officials will not be proactive in enforcing alcohol policies.
"I feel bad for his family and those who he left behind who are mourning him,” senior advertising major Hannah McDonald said of Daniels’ death. She thinks the tragedy is not a reflection of Fresno State as much as it is of its Greek system.
However, Bernadette Moordigian, a Fall 2005 graduate, believes that Daniels’ death casts a dark shadow on both the school and the Greek system.
“It makes State look bad,” Moordigian said. “It perpetuates the stereotypes of fraternities and sororities.”
Moordigian, who said many of her friends joined frats and sororities, knows that there is a philanthropic side to the Greek system, but it does not get recognized as much as the negative images of binge drinking and partying lifestyles.
“I know they do good things, but they get overshadowed,” Moordigian said.
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