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A tragic death occurred at Florida State University months ago when an undergraduate student drank himself to death. While there appears to be no evidence of hazing directly related to this drinking incident but plenty of evidence of the foolish acts of drunk young people, FSU President John Thrasher and VP of Student Affairs Amy Hecht acted quickly to punish all FSU fraternity and sorority students by banning Greek Life for six months.

Practicing “collective punishment” is a totalitarian tactic, like punishing a neighborhood for an act of one resident.  Thrasher and Hecht will be proud to know that these tactics are banned by the Geneva Convention and punishable as war crimes (Article 33, Fourth Geneva Convention).    That’s right, it mattered not that 95% of those punished had no affiliation with the fraternity where the death occurred, Thrasher and Hecht suspended all members of all fraternities and sororities at FSU indefinitely, banning their leadership, social, and fellowship activities and depriving them of untold opportunities.  The staggering monetary costs of lost event deposits, dues paid for which nothing was rendered, and countless other opportunities lost are incalculable and were taken by FSU from these young adults and will never be recovered.

To make matters worse, during the time of the suspension, Hecht’s office empowered itself with modern day Gestapo-like powers, spying on the social media of FSU’s fraternity and sorority students and even calling in members and chapter advisors – refusing to explain why in advance – to reprimand them for perfectly legal acts like dressing up and visiting the Tennessee Street bars on one’s 21^st birthday and playing impromptu stickball games.  These innocent, independent and perfectly legal acts were determined by the FSU administration as inappropriate or worse, during the suspension period.

Offensive as this was, it was just the beginning.  Hecht proposed a draconian set of new rules to “reset” or create a “new normal” at FSU.  Beer posters would be banned, 24-hour searches of the private residence of all fraternity men would be allowed without cause, warrant, or permission. Fraternity “Sweetheart” competitions – cancelled.  Parties - banned!   Most offensive of all was the imposition of a new “Greek Tax” that would be levied to take over $1M per year from these students so the FSU Administration could support and build its newfound power base and anti-Greek empire in the office of VP Hecht.  Mind you, FSU Greeks already pay millions in fees for activities and services, from which they are banned to receive any funds back like other FSU student organizations do because fraternity members pay dues. Therefore,  double taxation proves to be as punitive as it is duplicitous.