What we have learned from the fall semester of 2020 that can help our clients as they potentially re-open in 2021:

As in all things during the pandemic, it is critical that you be aware of what your national organizations and institutions are doing in terms of COVID-19 guidance and recommendations. The Greek system continues to be looked at for their leadership, and it is a great opportunity for the Greeks on every campus to show their support for the well-being of the fellow students, the campus and the broader community.

We also recommend that you review the American College Health Association’s Guidelines for Reopening for Institutes of Higher Education for the Spring Semester 2021.

Important reminder: As always, check with your national organization regarding any and all COVID-19 risk management advice before proceeding.

We have recently written up our position on the ability of employers to require their employees to take the vaccine. We are also beginning to get questions about whether the sororities/fraternities will be allowed to also require their members to be vaccinated.

In December, we took the opportunity to discuss this matter with three university administrators from a public institution and one administrator from a private university, along with extensive research on this developing subject, to get a feel as to what the university community was considering on this subject of requiring its students to be vaccinated before they can continue to be on campus.

What follows are some questions and responses that we posed:

By what authority do institutions of higher education (IHEs) currently hold the power to require the vaccinations that pre-COVID were already in place?

This authority comes from each state’s Department of Health: a public institution generally follows the guidance, whereas a private institution is able to require more vaccinations than what the Department of Health addresses. There also exists a statute that allows governmental entities such as a university to engage in “all acts necessary” to preserve the health and safety of its students and employees dating back to the early 1900s.

Currently do IHEs allow for exceptions to their vaccination policy and, if so, what are they?

Yes, each administrator responded that exceptions are allowed. They are 1) for health reasons in which an individual has reason to believe it could put their health at risk and 2) for religious beliefs that are inconsistent with taking vaccines. We did hear that very few of their students seek exceptions. According to Peter H. Meyers, an emeritus professor at the George Washington University law school and previously served as director of the law school’s Vaccine Injury Litigation Clinic, 95 to 99 percent of students will not fit into the narrow categories of exemptions that are allowed.

Do you anticipate offering additional exceptions for the COVID-10 vaccinations to your faculty and staff ?

One administrator acknowledged that they anticipate allowing the faculty and staff an exemption based on what is being referred to as “philosophical disagreements” against the vaccines, which will probably not be offered to students. Another university stated that they would just consider that type of exception as a medical reservation instead of a separate item.

What do you anticipate your university will be doing this spring on requiring students be vaccinated?

It is unlikely that they will mandate vaccinations especially since drug is only being offered under an “emergency use” category and the student population won’t have access to the vaccine for some time. They do sense that the university will encourage the vaccines but not require them down the road, short of any governmental direction to the contrary.

What impediments will there be to ultimately be to actually require the vaccination of all students/faculty and administration?

The current status of the vaccination application is termed “emergency use.” In ordinary circumstances, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will then move the drugs to what is termed “standard approval,” and the masses would then be eligible to take the vaccination. There is some pretty strong concern that because of the fact that the drugs haven’t gone through the normal three-year trial period that the FDA may not any time soon declare the drug for “standard approval,” which will certainly slow the acceptance of the vaccination.

How have the IHEs handled the flu vaccination previously?

What seemed to be the consensus is that many of both the private and public institutions did in fact require flu vaccinations last fall of both students and administration/faculty with very high acceptance rates. There is doubt however that this will play out the same way with the COVID-19 vaccine.

Students won’t necessarily be considered for vaccinations until late spring/early summer timeframe, so should we consider the vaccination matter at a later point in time?

Unless the student has underlying health issues, this is likely the case.  We have read that the American College Heath Association (ACHA) has requested that the CDC Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices (ACIP) consider recommending students be vaccinated prior to the end of spring semester 2021. This addresses the students returning home and/or moving elsewhere and exposing other communities at large.

There is no question that the sororities will need to once again be familiar with what each IHE is doing as they develop their guidance for each chapter. As noted above, we may see differences develop between private and public IHEs, along with local conditions regarding the spread of the virus. Any discussion is premature until the vaccine becomes more readily available to the age grouping of college students.

We have also had some fraternal related questions that we would also like to address:

If a university requires the COVID-19 vaccination and requires proof of the inoculation, can the sorority and potentially the house corporation rely on that or should we also secure a proof?

We believe that you can rely on the university managing this risk accordingly.

What if the university choses to not require the vaccination, but we determine that it is in the best interests of the health and safety of our members to do so?

As a private organization, you will be at liberty to make these determinations. Will it become a condition of membership for the member to consider? It will be recommended that you also explore what exceptions you can offer, not unlike those that employers are obligated to offer, such as: 1) health reasons as the vaccine may pose a threat to the individual and 2) religious reasons. There does also appear that one other possible exception is being considered which is based on philosophical disagreements, but not necessarily encouraging you to incorporate. We are already hearing reservations on social media, which do not appear to have any scientific standing.

As with all things COVID, things will develop and evolve on this subject and we can hope that the IHEs make the calls that will help our clients better manage this exposure. As there are new developments, we will provide you with updates accordingly. We are also working with Michelle Anderson of isher & Phillips on some possible “templates” that may be used on this subject so look for additional information.

Please don’t hesitate to contact your Client Executive with any further questions or concerns.

Whether or not to quarantine sick members or employees at the chapter house is up to each individual chapter and house corporation to decide based on their organization’s guidance, their campus and local health department guidance, and the structure and layout of their individual facilities.

Many of our clients are feverishly preparing for their members to return to campus, both resident and non-resident. We can only imagine the stress and anxiety that you are facing as you navigate the opening of your chapter house. We appreciate you and your leadership as you face this challenge, you need to be confident in knowing that your organization has secured a comprehensive insurance policy to cover the entities and your exposure to liability. 

As we have urged, we are confident that you will implement the COVID-19 CDC guidelines, you will have trained your staff on the procedures, and you will have educated all your collegiate members on the safety guidelines. Having done so and doing your best to get compliance, your liability will be significantly reduced. The standard is “what a prudent and reasonable person would do.”

During these chaotic times, the comprehensive insurance coverage that your organization has purchased hopefully gives you the freedom to make the best business decisions for your chapter or house corporation.

Safety measures are being implemented for not only your collegiate members, but just as importantly, for your employees. We recently had a question that we wanted to address for reference. The question was what should be done if the house director becomes ill with the COVID-19 virus. 

Below are some points to consider:

As always, please do not hesitate to contact your Client Executive should you have additional questions or need further guidance.

As a house corporation volunteer, you are in the midst of reviewing the impact of the COVID-19 virus on the chapter operations and the possibility/probability of your college or university being opened this fall academic semester and what that would look like. We have come to understand that each and every campus will be deciding the best option for its students and that the sorority chapters will undoubtedly have to follow their lead.

Thus, we think that this is a good time to make a connection with the appropriate university personnel who can help you also navigate this matter more effectively. As a means of trying to establish a relationship/partnership with the university, we are suggesting some basic questions that you may want to consider asking to get a sense of where the university is currently thinking which may ultimately help you gauge your direction. As a private organization, you will have the choice to make the decisions that work best for your house corporation and the chapter but sharing information can also be of some assistance in this very challenging matter.

Whom to contact at the university will vary by university, but we have seen many universities designated a COVID-19 taskforce. We recommend asking to speak to someone on the taskforce, if applicable. If that is not possible, the office of the Dean of Residential Life would be a great resource to connect with now, as well. 

With the situation changing so frequently, please be sure you are reviewing the most updated version of this document and, as always, check with your national organization before taking any of these recommendations.

Whether or not to quarantine sick members at the chapter house is up to each individual chapter and house corporation to decide based on their organization’s guidance, their campus and local health department guidance, and the structure and layout of their individual facilities.

We have created some questions to consider in making the decision whether or not to quarantine sick individuals at the chapter house:

Legal liability exists when:

What actions during the COVID-19 crisis could possibly lead to the insured (chapter and/or house corporation) being found legally liable for an injury from the virus? Before we lay out some examples it is always important to remember that society and the courts generally only require that a person or entity act “as a reasonable and prudent person” and using their best, and most informed, judgement act accordingly. 

Examples might be:

There are numerous other scenarios; however, the major point is that there will be advice from experts like the CDC on how to follow health and prevention guidelines to keep your chapter house safe from spreading COVID-19. The key is to follow the health and prevention guidelines, educate your employees and members on these guidelines, and put measures in place to ensure their compliance of these guidelines.  Should someone get injured or ill and allege they did so on your property, you will be able to confidently defend your position by having followed these best practices.

At MJ Sorority, we created this resource packet to help our clients plan safer events during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Should you wish to use a waiver to attempt to release your organization from COVID-19 related claims, our in-house attorney created this template for MJ Sorority clients’ use. For more information on our position on waivers, please refer to our position paper.

This letter was created for clients to proactively answer frequently asked insurance questions for parents and members before the questions arise throughout the course of a member’s collegiate experience.

Please feel free to use this template and edit it as you see fit. You will notice [bracketed] sections where we encourage you to insert your organization and/or chapter name to tailor this language to your specific needs.

Should you have any questions, as always, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Re: [Fraternity’s] National Insurance Program

To The Parents of [Chapter Member’s Name]:

The Independent Insurance Agents of America estimate that 100,000 property claims occur on college campuses annually. While on a college campus, your young adult will be responsible for the personal property or personal possessions they have at school. They also are liable for their actions that cause damage to others’ property and/or any bodily injury they cause to another person.

If your family has a standard homeowner’s insurance policy or a renter’s insurance policy, it is likely that the exposures to your young adult will be covered under that policy while they are away at college. However, we recommend that chapter members and their families verify that their homeowners policy extend to a student’s personal property while away at college.

For that reason, we believe that it is our responsibility to communicate to the chapter members and their parents the specifics of the Sorority’s insurance coverage.

Property and Liability Coverage

Each House Corporation has a contract with the resident members that defines the relationship and obligation of both parties to the arrangement. The agreement explicitly states that the House Corporation is not responsible for any loss or damage to a resident member’s personal property, including their personal automobiles. Personal property includes members’ laptops, personal items, and any other property that they bring into the chapter house. Similarly to any other rental arrangement, the resident is responsible for insuring their own personal property, either via their parent’s homeowners policy or via a renters’ policy. The fraternity’s property coverage covers the Fraternity’s property, for example the furniture and kitchen equipment owned by the Housing Corporation at the chapter house.

Parents’ Homeowner’s Policy

It is the responsibility of the resident member to make sure that their personal property is protected while living in the chapter house. Many chapter members’ property would still be covered under their parent’s homeowners policy; however, we recommend that chapter members and their families verify that their homeowners policy extends to a student’s personal property while away at college.

We have reviewed the industry-standard insurance language for homeowner’s policies in hopes of providing resident members with the information necessary to ensure that their personal property is adequately protected. The standard homeowner’s policy language defines an insured as:

Most resident members would fit into one or both of the definitions above, but there are further issues to consider when ensuring your personal property is protected:

Student Renter’s Insurance

If you would prefer not to rely on a parent’s renter’s or homeowner’s insurance, we highly encourage you or your daughter to purchase student renter’s insurance, which will cover her personal property and personal liability. For example, National Student Services offers $10,000 worth of coverage with a $50 deductible for about $300 in annual premium. Grad Guard offers a comparable program. If you or your daughter purchases a student renter’s policy, we recommend that you confirm that the following perils are covered: theft, fire, flood, and wind. In addition, some of the most common causes of loss to a laptop include drops and damage from liquids being spilled into the laptop, so it is important to verify whether or not those types of claims would be covered.

Personal Liability Coverage

The organization’s liability insurance does not cover personal or bodily injury to your daughter in much the same way that your homeowner’s policy does not provide medical coverage for members of your household. If your daughter is injured at the chapter house or at a chapter event, she will need to rely on her (or your) personal medical policy. This may also be spelled out in the membership and housing agreements that she has signed.

[Sorority name’s] policy will provide liability coverage for your daughter’s personal actions within the course and scope of her membership obligations, but not outside. Your daughter’s organization has purchased the broadest coverage possible to protect your daughter should she be named in a lawsuit due to her affiliation with [sorority name], so long as she is following the guidelines of the organization. The liability insurance is third-party coverage, meaning that it protects the insureds (the Sorority, House Corporation, Chapter, Members, Volunteers, etc.) should they be named in a lawsuit from a third-party who has either been hurt or had their property damaged.

Personal Automobile Insurance

If your daughter takes her car to school, your automobile policy will continue to cover her personal automobile while she is away at school. If she does not take a car with her to school, you will want to ensure that she is still listed as a driver under your automobile policy if she plans to drive any automobile while away at school. Several insurance companies offer “student away at school” discounts for this type of coverage, so be sure to check with your insurance agent before she leaves for college. MJ recommends that drivers, for their own financial health, carry at least $300,000 of automobile coverage, not merely the minimum coverage required by your state.

If your daughter drives her personal automobile on Sorority business and is involved in an accident, she will not be covered by [sorority’s name] automobile liability policy.  Liability follows the owner of the car; thus her personal liability would be covered by her personal automobile policy. The organization’s automobile liability policy exists to protect the organization if it is named in a lawsuit involving an automobile, not individuals. For more information about the automobile coverage, please refer to the Digging Deeper: Non-Owned Automobile document on MJ’s website.

For many chapter members, college is the first opportunity for them to live on their own away from home. It is important that chapter members and their families take the necessary steps to ensure that their personal property, which can often be very expensive, is financially protected via insurance. If you are interested in studying the organization’s insurance program further, we recommend you review the expansive Insurance Summary on MJ’s website. We realize that this can be a confusing issue, so please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions or concerns.

Officer Liability

There is no debate that all students on campus will be expected to continue to follow the rules that universities and fraternal organizations put in place to ensure the health and safety of the students, faculty, and community.

It also goes without saying that the sorority officers of the chapter will have more responsibility to help lead this effort. With increased responsibilities comes greater liability to act as a “reasonable and prudent person” would do in a similar situation. If your daughter is a chapter officer, she has been and continues to be covered under the [Sorority’s] national insurance policy. We remain confident that your daughter would see her organization’s policy step up to defend her should she be named in a lawsuit and pay for a judgement should she be found negligible in her duties as an officer. You can be confident in the comprehensive national insurance policy that your daughter’s organization has secured for their exposures to risk.

Sincerely,

Kit Clark Moorman
Director of Risk Management Education
MJ Sorority

Other helpful resources:

With the situation changing so frequently, please be sure you are reviewing the most updated version of this document and, as always, check with your national organization before taking any of these recommendations.

As we navigate these crazy times dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, we are trying to address as many possible scenarios that need to be addressed for chapter facilities to safely open and stay open. We are relying on the experts and doing our best to collect the experts’ advice and information that impacts our clients. It is important that our clients are staying as up-to-date as possible on the current recommendations by their respective national organization, by their state and local governments, and by the campus (including campus health and residential life departments) in which they are affiliated.

We have been researching various scenarios and questions that face sororities specifically.  Because each chapter facility faces unique challenges depending on their specific facility, their campus, state, etc., we cannot offer clear guidance that applies to every chapter house. For that reason, we are offering the advice on the following situations with the stipulation that each location will need to do what is best for their individual situations, ensuring that they are following their own organization’s policies and the guidance from local and campus public health departments.

The risks associated with the communal sleeping arrangements that do exist in some sorority chapter houses will need to be closely reviewed. At face value, these congested/densely populated and poorly ventilated rooms will be a breeding ground for the virus and the eventual spread to others in the same room. If it is possible to utilize the personal rooms for the temporary sleeping arrangements, this would be the best recommendation; however, we recognize that this may not be possible from a business perspective. This is another example of where you must chose your risks, so to speak, and the business risk to your operation with significantly less members paying room and board may outweigh the risks of members being exposed to the virus.

Some best practices to consider should you have no choice but to maintain the usual group sleeping arrangements are as follows:

Communication during a crisis is crucial, and it is possibly even more important during a global pandemic, in which conditions are changing sometimes multiple times during the same day. It has become abundantly clear that the success of a university and a sorority chapter house to be able to maintain operations will be closely tied to the students’ and members’ commitment to follow the best practices established. It is of utmost importance that communication lines are open between the chapter and House Corporation leadership and the following entities:

Whether or not to quarantine sick members at the chapter house is up to each individual chapter and house corporation to decide based on their organization’s guidance, their campus and local health department guidance, and the structure and layout of their individual facilities.

We have created some questions to consider in making the decision whether or not to quarantine sick members at the chapter house.

If a location does choose to quarantine ill members, this is the CDC guidance for quarantining sick members. Kappa Alpha Theta created this housing and safety plan that they graciously agreed to share, which includes a simple approach and expectations should a member be symptomatic or test positive. Each sorority is using a slightly different philosophy, but many general principles are mutual. 

Quarantining a House Director

Generally, a house director has a private living arrangement that would lend itself to a quarantine. However, this does not align well with the house director being able to continue to perform their job responsibilities. A possible alternative may be to secure a temporary employee to temporarily takeover the house director’s responsibilities for oversight of the property.

See our resource on additional things to consider if your House Director tests positive for COVID-19.

The CDC guidance on social distancing is particularly difficult in communal living spaces. We recommend the following measures be put in place should you chose to re-open the chapter house:

Additionally, the CDC recommends the following considerations for common spaces in your facility.

We recommend that our clients offer tremendous flexibility to employees and members at higher risk of infection. Based on what we currently know, the CDC defines those individuals at higher risk of severe illness from COVID-19 as follows:

It is important that employers are following the CDC guidance for businesses and employers. We recommend that all chapter house employees be provided with cloth face coverings and disposable gloves. When cleaning and disinfecting, employees should always wear gloves and gowns appropriate for the chemicals being used. Additional personal protective equipment (PPE) may be needed based on setting and product.

Here are some additional resources for review:

Testing availability and requirements are so widely disparate based on various areas around the country that we cannot make any recommendations on testing at this time. We recommend that you contact your state and local health departments for additional information and clarification.

In order to re-open, it may be recommended to take temperatures of residents, employees, and guests. The federal government has waived certain HIPAA privacy rules during this emergency situation, but, again, it is important that you abide by the recommendations set forth by your national organization, your campus health department, and your state and local health departments for clarification.

It is important that you encourage member residents to monitor themselves for symptoms daily.

The most important and relevant resource for decontamination is the CDC’s Guidance on Cleaning and Disinfection for Community Facilities. Stay tuned to the CDC guidance for the most updated information based on our evolving knowledge of the novel coronavirus. Review our recorded webinar on cleaning and decontamination recommendations.

The Center for Disease Control (CDC) has recommended increased ventilation for COVID-19 prevention.

The CDC has stated that COVID-19 is spread mainly from person-to-person, through respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes. The droplets can possibly be inhaled by people nearby. Because of this, the CDC recommends increasing building ventilation to cut down on recycled contaminated air. 

Now, more than ever, it is imperative that HVAC system filters are inspected, exhaust systems are operational, and outside air sources are maximized. Many older buildings do not meet current codes, often lacking outside air intakes and exhaust. Even newer buildings, which may be equipped with intakes and exhaust, can be out of service or improperly balanced. 

We urge you to consider this inspection as a part of your enhanced cleaning/decontamination work in your chapter house. 

People living and working in sorority chapter houses will have challenges with social distancing to prevent the spread of COVID-19. In this type of shared housing, residents often gather together closely for social, leisure, and recreational activities, shared dining, and/or use of shared equipment, such as kitchen appliances, laundry facilities, stairwells, and elevators.

It is imperative that local house corporation and chapter volunteers are working together, communicating openly and often, and touching base with their state, local, and campus health departments, which can help you decide when and if you need to scale up or loosen prevention measures.

Note: Surgical masks and N-95 respirators are critical supplies that must continue to be reserved for healthcare workers and other medical first responders, as recommended by current CDC guidance. All staff and residents should wear a cloth face covering when in shared areas of the facility and maintain social distancing to slow the spread of the virus.

Identify platforms such as email, websites, hotlines, automated text messaging, newsletters, and flyers to help communicate information on:

Accepting guests at facilities

First, review and follow the guidance and directives from your state and local officials. It is our recommendation that chapter houses do not allow guests during the pandemic.

If you decide to allow guests, we recommend that you put in place check-in requirements and provide any guests with a clean cloth face covering.

With the situation changing so frequently, please be sure you are reviewing the most updated version of this document and, as always, check with your national organization before taking action.

The CDC has issued the following guidelines to properly disinfect your facilities before welcoming members, employees, and guests back in to the chapter facility.

OSHA COVID-19 Website

CDC Home Care Guidance

CDC COVID-19 Environmental Cleaning and Disinfection Guidance for Households

CDC Home Care Guidance for People with Pets