U of Alabama: Sigma Phi Epsilon Chapter Closed
 

Sigma Phi Epsilon has closed its chapter at the U of Alabama.

Excerpts from Associated Press report posted on regional station's site:

December 2, 2008

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) - A leading fraternity at the University of Alabama has been disbanded for repeated rules violations, including hazing new members.

The national board of Sigma Phi Epsilon revoked the charter of its Alabama chapter late last month.

A university spokeswoman . . . said there were violations of student conduct standards and rules against mistreating new members, a practice commonly referred to as hazing.

Officials aren’t releasing details of what happened.

. . . Sigma Phi Epsilon is a large, prominent fraternity at Alabama, where it’s had a chapter since 1927. It had 83 members last spring.

News report is at:
http://www.nbc13.com/vtm/news/local/..._hazing/49202/

Longer article with more about living arrangements, possible timelines for return, "alumni status" possibilites, etc. is on a regional newspaper's site (no details of any alleged incidents, however):

http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/articl...azing_incident

I have a buddy who is in a SigEp chapter at a school I won't mention, but they have recently gotten in trouble for hazing, as a pledge contacted nationals complaining about some stuff, and they are facing severe punishments. I'm very glad my fraternity is 100% hazing free, and I wonder why people who claim to care so much about their organization would allow this kind of BS to continue... HAZING KILLS BROTEHRHOOD

How could you know if your fraternity is 100% hazing free?

Especially considering that SigEp has some pretty innovative programs to diminish hazing and develop members, I'd be pretty hesitant to assume that just because your chapter doesn't do and your national doesn't support it that hazing doesn't happen someplace in your group too.

I'm guessing they weren't a balanced man chapter?

(I edited this)

That was one of the first things that crossed my mind. But I have my suspicions that unless it's a chapter that closed and reformed that the SEC chapters probably aren't really even if they are in name and official structure.

I feel that I should add that I don't have any direct knowledge about this; it just surprises me that a traditional SEC-type chapter would go Balanced Man whole heartedly unless they were under duress. It's not the guys in the group loving abuse; it's that being hard to get initiated into used to (and may still be) be sort of part of your status relative to other groups.

I think that's a very good point UGA, some of the groups with "no pledgeship" or whatever, catch alot of shit from the other houses and are disrespected among the fraternities...that's not necessarily the same with the sororities, but it can be.

SigEp is too small here to be discussed in any length, but Lambda Chi always catches it for having associate members and the fact that I see their members mowing the lawn rather than the damn pledges.

I don't know whether they were or weren't.
Sig Ep HQ's web site statement does say that when they return to Alabama, it'll be as a Balanced Man chapter:

See

http://www.sigep.org/news/release.asp?release=215

"The Fraternity will honor its long history and campus heritage by returning to campus in the coming years with its trademark Balanced Man Program . . . ."

Bunch of sado-masochists

Update

A few more details alleged; the news source credits the campus paper at Alabama with the report:

http://www.tradingmarkets.com/.site/...0News/2069693/

Edited to add:

The Crimson White article is at:

http://www.cw.ua.edu/sig_ep_hazing_details_emerge

Excerpts:
. . . one of the pledges went to DCH Regional Medical Center for burn treatment several days after the incident occurred. The wounds were discovered in an advanced stage of infection, and the pledge suffered a collapsed lung as a result of the infection.

Soon thereafter, the University received a call from “an outside source,” said Tim Hebson, dean of students. The call informed the Office of the Dean of Students of the hazing incident.

. . . Hebson said his office would conduct an investigation of the incident, following “due process.”

The fraternity’s suspension, Hebson said, was invoked by the Sigma Phi Epsilon national chapter, which enacted the punishment before the University could carry out any action.

Aaron Jarnger, director of marketing and communications for the Sigma Phi Epsilon national chapter, said the University contacted the national chapter with information from a confidential source.

He said staff members from the national chapter were sent to the University to investigate the incident.

“If there’s some evidence of hazing, we conduct an investigation,” Jarnger said.
Jarnger said he could not release any details of the incident because it is still under investigation.

Hebson said the fraternity’s local Alumni Board submitted a list of about 30 names for investigation. His office will hold hearings to determine what type of actions will be taken toward the individuals in question.

. . . Hebson did say, however, that their investigation is more about finding the individuals responsible for the hazing incident and not punishing the chapter as a whole.

. . . Ralph Clements, president of the fraternity’s local Alumni Board, said board members conducted an investigation as well.
. . . the [alumni] board asked questions to anyone who may have been involved, compiled the list of names that was submitted to the Office of the Dean of Students and wrote a summary of what they uncovered. . . .

My cousin was a SigEp at this chapter. They were traditional.

Sorry, I meant my Alpha.

They're idiots if they're going to go BMP at Bama, when they come back.

Greek life will eat them alive.

As I understand it, they will not have a choice. All new chapters - which include re-colonizations - are to be Balanced Men chapters.

Yeah, I know.

That's why I said sado-masochists earlier.

They will be closing chapters faster than they can open, soon.

I can't say you're not correct, depending on the school, but what else would you have them do? With all the responsibilities and regulations they have to carry as a national org, how else can they respond to this kind of nonsense?:

I realize that.

But there has to be alternatives to a program which, from what I understand, takes no knowledge of the fraternity to actually join. Among other problems with it, including bidding everyone.

edit: I was reading my Divine 9 book (the one by Lawerence Ross...it's not very good) and a respected Kappa Alpha Psi named Travis Smiley said:

"That we have to do something about the ongoing incidence of hazing, while at the same time, maintaining some type of pledge system, which allows the old heads, the old school members to have respect for the new system. It's one thing to do away with hazing, which I'm all for and it can't happen fast enough for me, but it is another thing to radically restructure the pledge process to the extent that the old heads don't give the new initiates any respect."

That is wrong. Maybe not be a fan of BMP, but to say that BMP members has no knowledge of the fraternity is false.

That may be quite true but it doesn't take any to join.

By join do you mean accept a bid or go through initiation and be received into full membership?

Initiation.

I realize that there are some not so BMP chapters, but the amount of knowledge that they learn about their fraternity is seriously lacking from personal experience (which doesn't make the whole of truth, I realize)

The SigEps I've met recently are from BMP chapters, and I've been impressed with their knowledge of their own fraternity, as well as other fraternities and even sororities. Maybe that's because we've had a lot of snow days that prevented us from getting to the slopes so they were inside reading?

You are wrong once again. Read about the BMP program straight from our website. If the chapter doesn't follow it to the teeth, it's not the fault of the program, but the chapter.

Again, I'm not a big fan of it. I think it has some great points which can be used to integrate into the pledging model.