VANCOUVER—The UBC InterFraternity Council has permanently banned open social events at the University of British Columbia because it said it could not ensure safe conditions.

The council, which represents fraternity organizations at UBC, had previously suspended all social events while RCMP investigations were pending into drugging allegations at fraternity parties.

A UBC economics instructor, Marina Adshade, had alleged in a tweet on October 1, 2019 that a student of hers “spent the weekend at the hospital with six other women who had allegedly been drugged in fraternities at UBC.”

The tweet gained widespread attention and triggered investigations by RCMP, as well as a decision from the university’s Alma Mater Society to remove club status for the fraternities’ council (IFC).

In a Tuesday interview with the Ubyssey student newspaper, IFC president Adam Moallemi said the events from last October led the council to re-evaluate its approach to risk management.

“Having those parties where the whole Greek village or other houses are just packed with people, there’s no way we can control who’s coming in, and it just opens the door for so many issues,” he said.

“I think it’s fair to say that we’re moving in a direction where open parties like the ones people are used to are never going to happen again,” he added.

In the future, social functions will happen on an invitation-only system where fraternities will have strict guidelines about who could attend, but details are still under development, Moallemi said.

An IFC spokesperson told the Star on Wednesday that it has made its stance clear in the Ubyssey interview and would not be commenting further.

Adshade told the Star on Wednesday that she was happy to see that the council has taken responsibility “for the role they play in sexual violence on UBC campus.”

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“I think it’s a very good first step and it’s important that with parties on invitation basis going forward, they are implicitly taking responsibility for what happens at these parties,” she said.

Female students interviewed by the Star last October had shared stories of feeling uncomfortable at previous frat parties where they experienced aggressive come-ons. However, there is no data on the number of sexual harassment or assault cases that may have happened at UBC frat or sorority parties.

The university has the largest fraternity and sorority system in Canada, according to an article by the University of Toronto’s student paper, The Varsity. A 2019 UBC student society survey found six per cent of respondents participated in a fraternity or sorority.

Seven per cent of UBC students have experienced sexual assault or misconduct at the hands of another member of the UBC community during their time at the university, according to the school’s student society survey for the 2018-19 academic year.

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Of the respondents, women were more likely (13 per cent) than men (four per cent) to experience this. Fifteen per cent of students had accessed the student society’s sexual assault services centre in the 2018-19 academic year.

Canadian universities are generally hands-off when it comes to fraternities and sororities, according to The Varsity report, but Queen’s University has an explicit ban on Greek organizations.

Matthew Ramsey, director of university affairs for UBC, told the Star that the university has provided safety resources to students and encouraged students to come forward to the RCMP with any information.

Police did not immediately respond to the Star’s requests for comment.

With files from Wanyee Li

Joanna Chiu is a Vancouver-based reporter covering both Canada-China relations and current affairs on the West Coast for the Star. Follow her on Twitter: @joannachiu

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