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MIT Officials Ban Frat and Sorority Parties in the City of Boston Indefinitely

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Officials at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have alerted their fraternities and sororities that they have banned indefinitely any parties or events causing the house to be over capacity.

According to the Boston Globe, officials from the city of Boston will be issuing new inspection certificates following the recent injury of an 18-year-old frat member. Until those certificates are issued, MIT said any event causing the house (as long as it is located in Boston) to be over capacity is prohibited.

About a month ago, an MIT frat member fell through a Plexiglas skylight after jumping on it, falling four stories and surviving the fall. Both the school and the city gave the fraternity several citations following the incident, including alcohol related violations and an unpermitted roof deck.

"It didn't have the requisite railings; it didn't meet the building code, and hazards like skylights should have been blocked off," Bryan Glascock, commissioner of the city's Inspectional Services Department, said at the time.

Two MIT administrators and an off-campus living official sent an email to all organizations with a house in the city of Boston alerting them of the ban.

City officials are "seriously considering making the ban permanent, the email said. "So please, let's not test them on this to find out. We know this is a challenge, but we need to work through it together, not fight it."

MIT stated its intention to work with all the necessary groups and comply with any recommendations. Any group that breaks the ban will be subject to harsh penalties including loss of dormitory privileges.

"MIT is well aware of the hardship this will pose for our Boston-based organizations, and it intends to do everything it reasonably can to help mitigate the impact on our organizations' social programs and general operations while working with us to resolve the underlying safety issues," the email said. "MIT will support our community during this temporary occupancy restriction."

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