After an incident at an MIT fraternity in Kenmore Square, Boston police officers have put an indefinite ban on parties at all large gatherings at the institution. An 18-year-old student and fraternity member at Massachusetts Institute of Technology crashed into a skylight, fell four stories and injured himself. This immediately caused university, Greek life, and city officials to take action. The school has put a limit on how many people can attend gatherings at MIT events, capping it to the amount of students that live in the building.
Although the ban does not directly impact other institutions in the Greater Boston area, it has caused many schools to re-evaluate their organizations, as well as consider the ramifications that come along with large social gatherings. Fortunately for neighbors of Boston fraternity houses, the ban will bring silence and tranquility to the streets, decreasing the amount of police sirens and blasting music that usually swarm these neighborhoods.
MIT has six fraternities, three sororities, and two independent living groups across the Charles River in Cambridge, as well as one fraternity and one independent living group in Brookline. Although these groups will not be affected by Boston’s ban of MIT fraternity and sorority gatherings, the university has limited these their house gatherings to up to three times the house capacity. It is not clear how long this ban will last, however it has already taken a toll on MIT and Boston’s social scene, specifically by decreasing the amount of gatherings held on Halloween weekend.