Woman Falls Three Stories at MIT Frat Party

A woman fell from a third story window during a frat party at MIT on Sunday and now the school is banning large fraternity and sorority parties — again.

A Sunday night Lambda Chi Alpha party is where the woman, who is not an MIT student, fell three stories and was subsequently taken to a hospital. She survived but Lambda Chi has been suspended by both MIT and their organization’s international headquarters. MIT plans to investigate the fraternity as well as enforce a ban of all gatherings of over 49 people, according to The Tech, MIT’s student newspaper. This new mandate includes all fraternities, sororities and other on-campus groups.

Sunday’s accident is the second in the last ten months at MIT. Last year, a student fell four stories from a Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity house. That accident pushed MIT to initially ban gatherings but that was eased for rushing this year. And while falling from a roof or a window sounds terrifying, according to the Atlantic, frat party falls are pretty common.

“Far from being freakish and unpredictable events, fatal and near-fatal falls from fraternity-house roofs, balconies, windows, and sleeping porches are fairly regular occurrences across the country.”