FIJI's M.I.T. house suspended

An alcohol-related death at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Phi Gamma Delta fraternity earlier this year prompted the Boston Licensing Board to suspend the fraternity's housing license recently. The decision to bar students from living in the house through the end of next semester follows several infractions that culminated in the alcohol poisoning of M.I.T. freshman and FIJI brother Scott Krueger in September. Krueger died after three days in a coma induced by binge drinking at the FIJI house. A grand jury is conducting a criminal investigation of the incident. Also, the Boston Globe reported this week that another fraternity at M.I.T., Theta Chi, is under an internal investigation on charges that a Boston University student suffered alcohol poisoning at a party there in November. No further information is available on that investigation, and no action has been taken against Theta Chi. Although M.I.T. and the national FIJI office suspended the school's FIJI chapter following Krueger's death in September, brothers already living in the house were allowed to remain. During the period when the housing license is suspended -- January 15 to August 14E-- only a caretaker will be permitted to live in the house, according to Board Commissioner Daniel Pokaski. The fraternity is eligible to apply for a new housing license August 15, according to M.I.T. spokesperson Robert Sales. But he added that in order to receive a renewed license, fraternity brothers would have to agree to make their house alcohol-free for two years. If FIJI brothers choose to reapply for the license in August, the fraternity would essentially face a permanent ban on alcohol. The national organization announced earlier this year that all chapters must be alcohol-free by the year 2000 -- when the two-year period would end. Pokaski said the housing commission based its decision on FIJI's "poor track record as being good residents," adding that Krueger's death was "the last straw." He noted that the suspension of a fraternity house's license is "very rare" and is partially based on the "undisputed fact" that Krueger, who was under the legal drinking age, drank alcohol at a fraternity event preceding his death. As a result of the incident, M.I.T. has to submit a proposal by June 1 "about how to supervise fraternities" responsibly, according to Pokaski. "We think M.I.T. should have policed this fraternity house a lot better than they did," he said. M.I.T. will help FIJI brothers make alternate on- or off-campus housing arrangements -- including a special effort to keep the 11 freshman residents together, Sales said. Although the fraternity could also face sanctions by the national office, FIJI National Executive Director Bill Martin said his organization "will wait for the investigation by the police" to be completed before proceeding. M.I.T. FIJI brothers declined to comment yesterday on the housing license suspension.

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