Staff Editorial: IFC president must step down

The InterFraternity Council president, according to the IFC Web site, is charged with the task of representing all 29 of Penn's fraternities in discussions with administrators and with other student groups. He has the power to represent fraternity chapters in dealings with the media and the responsibility of serving on the University's alcohol and drug task force.

It would be unfair to judge current IFC President Seth Cohen's tenure solely based on the policy violations committed by one fraternity. After all, the IFC president is responsible for supervising 28 other fraternities, and by all accounts, he has done so fairly well to this point.

Unfortunately, in Cohen's case, he is guilty by association -- the fraternity in question, ZBT, is his own. And because of the actions of his fraternity brothers, who broke a rule that he pledged to enforce, Cohen can no longer effectively perform his duties as president.

Cohen now governs the IFC without any official Greek affiliation at Penn. His fraternity's charter was revoked on Wednesday after committing an alcohol policy violation while on probation.

Having previously served as an officer in ZBT, Cohen was undoubtedly aware of the risk his fraternity brothers were taking in co-sponsoring an off-campus mixer. Regardless of whether Cohen took part in that evening's event, his brothers are taking the blame. Meanwhile, Cohen maintains his post, distancing himself from the actions taken by a group he once governed.

We are not here to judge Cohen's allegiance to either his fraternity or to the IFC in general. But if Cohen remains in his position in spite of the demise of his fraternity, he will likely lose all credibility in the eyes of his colleagues and the administration. Cohen is now representing a body to which he no longer belongs, and that cannot continue.

In order to salvage the credibility of both his fraternity and his organization, Seth Cohen must resign as IFC president immediately. If he chooses to stay in his position, the burden falls on the remainder of the InterFraternity Council to ask for his resignation.

This is not a personal issue -- it is an issue of responsibility to his peers and to his fraternity brothers. Seth Cohen is a lame duck president. If the other IFC board members want to move on and put this incident behind them, they will put their personal feelings aside and begin anew with a new president.

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