Northwestern University’s Interfraternity Council voted Friday to extend its ban on all social and recruitment activities associated with the council’s 12 member fraternities.

       The council had initially implemented a three-week ban on all chapter events, in conjunction with the university, following alerts to students about multiple aggravated assault cases involving students who reported being drugged at fraternity houses.

       The ban was set to expire Sunday, but the resolution extends the ban on social events until Jan. 3 “at the earliest” and any recruitment activities until Nov. 7 “with re-evaluation on the week of Nov. 1 by IFC and Northwestern,” according to a statement from council President Nick Papandreou.

       “Extending these restrictive measures will give the fraternity community the requisite time to undertake the necessary initiatives which will ensure that fraternities are safe and secure spaces and that no person feels under threat or is harmed when entering chapter-affiliated spaces,” Papandreou said in the statement.

       The ban does not include alcohol-free programming that is educational, philanthropic or for “member development.”

       Following the first ban, roughly 2,000 protesters at Northwestern University gathered outside the Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity house under the rallying cry to “abolish Greek life.” The fraternity house was one of two sites where several individuals reported being drugged in one weekend.

       The protests have been similar to outcries erupting on many campuses nationwide, where some students are calling for the dismantling of organizations they blame for fostering a toxic culture that is complicit in crimes against women and people of color.

       Northwestern’s Sigma Alpha Epsilon, the other fraternity where an alleged drugging case was reported, also was served a cease and desist letter from its national headquarters two days after the council issued the social ban.

       “We make a commitment to the wider Northwestern community that fraternity programming will return only when we are confident that it puts the health, safety, and well-being of all members of the Northwestern community at its core,” Papandreou tweeted Friday.

       In response, a private Northwestern student responded on social media, saying that would never happen. Papandreou responded saying “maybe” he was right.

       “But, as a council, our first priority is to safeguard the well-being of the entire Northwestern community, not just a select few,” Papandreou responded via Twitter. “And we’re providing the tools and resources to chapters to make sure they do too.”

       sygoodman@chicagotribune.com

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