Sigma Nu (Kicked Off)
 

National organization kicks Sigma Nu off campus (An Article Featured in the University of Arkansas school newspaper "The Travler"
On January 29,2001)
Curtis A. McClane
Lead Staff Writer


The Sigma Nu fraternity house has been dark and empty since the end of the fall semester.
Brad Beacham, chief operating officer of Sigma Nu Fraternity, Inc., said the national organization revoked the charter of the UA chapter because of allegations of hazing, vandalism, alcohol-related incidences and financial problems during the past few years.


“A couple of years ago, we began working closely with the UA administration concerning the behavior of the members and allegations of hazing,” Beacham said.


Gary Standridge, an alumnus of the fraternity and special assistant to the chancellor, said the allegations of hazing involved primarily members waking up pledges in the middle of the night for a roll call.


“Hazing is against the law,” Standridge said. “Any form of hazing is not allowed.”
“Some think it is esprit de corps,” he said. “They just want them to get what they got.”
According to police reports, a number of incidences have occurred involving alcohol, fighting and vandalism.


Oct. 10, 1999, a student was arrested at a party at the house on charges of public intoxication, a minor in possession of alcohol and fleeing after being approached by a UAPD officer.
Oct. 31, 1999, the Sigma Nu fraternity agreed to pay damages after a bottle was thrown through a window at the Kappa Sigma fraternity house.


Nov. 12, 1999, a man was arrested at a Sigma Nu party for public intoxication.
Feb. 13, 2000, Sigma Nu agreed to pay damages for a broken window at the Kappa Sigma house.
July 21, 2000, a rock was thrown through the glass door of the Sigma Nu fraternity house and a fire extinguisher sprayed on the inside by two men who had gotten into a fight earlier that night with Sigma Nu members.


Sept. 24, 2000, a fight occurred between Sigma Nu members and some international students who had attended an open party at the fraternity house.


“But, the last straw that broke the camel’s back occurred during finals week,” Standridge said.
Some pledges had gone on a trip for the weekend and were told to be back by 3 a.m. Sunday morning, Standridge said. When some pledges arrived late they found stereos and computers damaged, their clothes thrown outside, walls damaged and a mattress thrown through a window.
After this incident, the national organization revoked the Sigma Nu charter.


“This was the breaking point for the fraternity,” Beacham said.


“Although we didn’t have proven evidence,” he said, “there were enough problems from our perspective.


“One of the main problems was the lack of cooperation from members to identify those involved in these incidences,” Beacham said.


“Unfortunately, the future of the chapter was greatly and negatively affected by the actions of a few,” he said.


Sigma Nu had gone from a Chapter in Good Standing to having an Alumni Board of Advisors appointed in the fall of 1998, he said.


The purpose of the board, which included UA administrators and Sigma Nu alumni, was to work with the chapter members and leaders to avoid a reoccurrence of the problems and pursuing the fraternity’s mission and principles, Beacham said.


The mission of Sigma Nu endeavors to develop ethical leaders for society, he said.
“We’re trying to get away from the social club image,” Beacham said. “It was never intended to be a social organization.”


“The closing of Sigma Nu is a signal that these types of fraternities will not be tolerated,” he said.
James Conneely, associate vice chancellor for Student Affairs, said, “This may make other fraternities and sororities look at what they are doing.”


Standridge said they stress scholarship, leadership and community service.


“Sigma Nu has a long history of success nationwide,” he said. “This chapter has more alums than any other chapter in the U.S.”


Sigma Nu was founded in 1869 at the Virginia Military Institute, in Lexington Virginia and the Gamma Upsilon chapter at the UA was founded in 1904.


At the time the alumni board was formed, the fraternity was also having financial problems, Standridge said.


The board collected money, paid bills and approved activities, he said.
“Collecting room and board from members was a problem,” Standridge said. “As much as $30,000 to $40,000 is owed.”


Standridge said he is hoping to have the fraternity back on campus by 2004, but it will be a minimum of two years before it will return.


Beacham said, “There is no doubt in our minds that Sigma Nu will be back on campus and will return in a grand style.”


James Ezell, UA project and program director, said the house and property are owned by the UA.
Don Pederson, vice chancellor of Finance and Administration, said the fraternity owes the UA about $450,000 for bonds issued to the UA to pay for an addition to the house.
He said the UA is working with the fraternity to figure out how to deal with this situation.


“They don’t have the wherewithal to pay at this time,” Pederson said. “But, they are not dodging the obligation.”
Sigma Nu officers and members were unavailable for comment.


Debra Euculano, Greek Affairs coordinator, declined several requests for an interview.

Oh noooo....they were so good when I was a student there.

Unfortunately in every fraternity or sorority there are chapters who do not make wise choices. There's always a few bad apples in the bunch. But overall Sigma Nu is an awesome Fraternity with great ideals. They have some of the best guys and are one of the strongest houses on campus.

XO love and mine

I'm very sorry to hear of the chapter's problems. http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/frown.gif However, as Chiocutie said, there are always a few bad seeds in any organization. The Sigma Nus that I know at my school are terrific, and I hope that the Sigma Nus all around the world keep their heads up and stick together!

[This message has been edited by Theta-cutie (edited March 24, 2001).]

Couldn't something else have been done besides closing the chapter? Wouldn't that just embitter the brothers of that chapter to the rest of the fraternity. That is kind of drastic, I mean aren't there educational programs, so you don't have to throw out your brothers?

Billy, et al,

It's very easy to overlook the seriousness of hazing and alcohol issues.

This doesn't sound like a one time thing. We may not know all of the story.

And again, hazing is ILLEGAL. Not just a no-no -- against the law. Like you can be arrested for it. Or sued. Personally, or the chapter as a whole. Or the National.

As for bitterness, it probably does cause some, but those brothers were knowingly breaking the rules of their national and breaking the law.

If the article is accurate, it sounds like there were a number of leagally actionable issues. Losing their charter and chapter may be the easiest thing that could happen. They could have gone to jail.

By the way, did you notice that the Assistant Chancellor who was quoted in the article is a Sigma Nu alum. This couldn't have been easy for him -- but it is something which had to be done, unfortunately.

DeltAlum



[This message has been edited by DeltAlum (edited March 25, 2001).]

Isn't that a mouthfull...there are 3 sides to every story, side one, side two, and the truth.

Billy, I know what you mean and I agree - chapter closing should be a LAST resort. I have heard of chapter closings that sounded totally bogus and far too severe for the crime. Sad to say though, this one sounds warranted...it sounds like these guys were doing a pretty consistent job of being a-holes for quite a while.

[This message has been edited by 33girl (edited March 28, 2001).]

From the looks of that article, the chapter had multiple incidents of alcohol abuse and abuse against their pledges! If it were a one time thing, maybe revoking a charter would be too harsh...but you've read the article and it's been going on for a while. It only took a few Sigma Nus to decide the future of the chapter, and I'm sorry to say, but any chapter that violates national's policy deserves to get their charter pulled. I hope that Greeks everywhere can look at this and work together to prevent incidents like these from happening at their houses.

Yeah these guys were violating standards on many levels: hazing, debts owed to the fraternity and campus, alcohol violations.
There are a lot of chapters that get closed down from just any one of these. They're lucky the campus administration is willing to take them back in a re-colonization effort in the future.

I like the part about the brothers destroying stereos and computers that belong to the pledges, I'd like to see that N2 guy talk shit about how that increases brotherhood.

I hate the posting of these kinds of articles. It does us as greekchatters absolutley no good whatsoever. Not only that, but it also taints our image in the face of potential rushee's. Next time you guys want to post an article on here cant we try to post some positive stuff. I'd also like to extend my apoligies to the members of Sigma Nu for having this article splattered all over greekchat for us to analyize. Freedom of speech yes, but you also need to take into consideration the fact that parents, pledges, and potential rushees are looking at this page also. We dont have to hide this kind of publicity, but we could have avoided this thread and all of us still would have got a good sleep tonight.

I have to admit, this is a sad issue, but I feel that it is one that needs to be dealt with.

KABillyMac, while I respect your opinion, I have to disagree with you.

The GreekLife forum often has positive topics regarding GLOs. Hazing, vandalism, alcohol/drug abuse is a reality, and it is a problem affecting Greeks today. It should not be something to hide. True, we have parents and potential new members reading these topics, but if they were really serious in joining a GLO, they'd be able to realize that this does not happen in ALL GLOs. Many fraternities and sororities have excellent reputations, but I feel that many people agree with me that there are the bad seeds out there that give us a bad name.

When your chapter encounters a problem, do you simply sweep it under the mat and pray that it goes away? I didn't think so. This problem does not make me ashamed to be Greek, and I do sympathize with the brothers of Sigma Nu, but this topic should be taken with serious consideration. The UofA chapter's gone, and if chapters don't shape up...who'll be the next to go?

Hazing and stuff should go in the risk management section. This is really sad.

I too am terribly sorry to hear about this situation. I'm always sorry when any chapter is closed. One of my very favorite people is a Sigma Nu.

I hope, however, that this is a wake up call to all chapters who continue to argue that things like hazing and alcohol abuse (I'm certainly not arguing about alcohol used in moderation)are important and necessary parts of Greek life.

I'll say yet again that having pledged in the sixties and seen this situation from both sides, I can see NOTHING in hazing that promotes brotherhood in any way.

As the article says, it's against the law.

Sigma Nu National did what any organization must do in this society. Other fraternities are doing the same thing.

Don't put your chapter at risk by being foolish.

DeltAlum

as an alpha xi i am very saddened to hear about the sigma nus at uofa. however, i hate to sound pro hazing, but compared to the hazing that happens at my school, that was nothing. mips, middle of the night roll call---that's nothing compared to one of our frats. why has nothing been done about it? because their nationals doesn't care that it occurs. our nationals turned their frat in for hazing and you know what happened, bupkiss. i don't condone hazing, in fact i think it is utterly ridiculous. but until frats and sorors start regulating themselves, this kind of thing will only continue. and the greek reputation will only get worse.

I am very sorry to hear of all of the problems with this chapter. I hope that they will again be on campus in 2004 in full swing everyone (and chapter) deserves a second chance http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/smile.gif Perhaps then, the Sigma Nu's can start with a new attitude, as can the rest of the Greek system and campus. It is, however, hard to live down a bad reputation. I wish the Sigma Nu's nationals the best of luck!

LiL_G wrote "I like the part about the brothers destroying stereos and computers that belong to the pledges, I'd like to see that N2 guy talk shit about how that increases brotherhood."

I have never posted anything even close to condoning that type of behavior. I am very sorry to learn that a chapter of any Fraternity has lost their charter. This situation has many lesions to be learned. I am going to ask our Alumni Risk manager to use this as a case study with my Chapter. I would bet that my assessment of blame would differ greatly with many that post on this board.

I can’t get into too much detail, but if this had happened in my Chapter there would have been many interventions. A Brother or pledge involved in any negative situation that becomes public, either in print or television, automatically goes before the Alumni Board. Just as the actives hold the key to a pledges future as a Brother, our Alumni Brothers hold the keys to what we view as the ultimate goal of Brotherhood, the “Alumni Brother”(we call it something different, but that’s basically what it is). You see, in my Fraternity, the active Brother is not the ultimate goal.

It is obvious to those who read these boards that I am an avid supporter of hazing. I’m not sure that the full message is getting through. I do not condone physical contact with pledges. I do not condone destruction of property. I do not condone behavior unbecoming of a Brother. I know that hazing is both against the law and what my Nationals state. We accept this disparity and operate our intake system as our Chapter forefathers had intended. It has worked so very well for us for decades and will continue to do so. We also accept the risk associated with this program because it is overwhelmingly outweighed by the rewards we reap. If we changed to the mainstream, the dedication and beliefs that our Brotherhood is founded on would cease to exist. I first posted on this board to point out that there are still chapters that do not bend over for the politically correct. Just as in life, everything must be weighed. Risk vs. Reward.

Back to the top. Who’s at fault here? I say it’s the Alumni. If this had happened in my Chapter, the blame would have fallen on our shoulders, the Alumni Board. I am not saying that my Chapter does not have issues, we do, almost every semester. But we have the lines of authority to deal with these issues quickly and harshly, if needed. In my Chapter, Brotherhood has to be in your soul, but the Chapter is the keeper. It’s a synergy, “The total is greater than the sum of its parts”. In other words, “No one Brother is more important than the Chapter.”

While it is sad that a national must close a fraternity, this chapter so obviously disregards any standards of their fraternity that I don't think they deserve a charter. Education programs work for those who are willing to listen and use them. It sounds like Sigma Nu gave these guys a bunch of chances when bad things happened, and they just continued down their own path. I hope Sigma Nu can come back to the campus and thrive soon.

------------------
Delta Phi Epsilon, Celebrating 84 years of Dedication, Pride and Excellence!

N2,

You gave references to strong alumni involvemnt for the preservation of values in your fraternity. Since I was going to reply to your post in risk management, I'm just going to add it in my post here. You mention how your fraternity maintains strick guidelines preventing this type of thing from happening. Good for you, but 90% of the chapters out there can't achieve this. Hazing is a vicious circle that perpetuates itself and becomes progressively worst.

Anyways, enough about that. I think everyone here is being way too sympathetic toward this chapter of Sigma Nu. I personally don't care or want to know what a fraternity does behind closed doors, but what they do in public I have absolutely no tolerance for. Anyone that causes negative publicity should suffer the consequences. The media loves this type of bullshit, it hurts us a lot more than you know. Trust me, i'm on a campus with 1% greeks, these types of actions stay around for a long time and are very hard to dissolve.
Yeah there are other chapters that get any with a lot worse than this, but these guys were on downward spiral. The few bad apples would most likely be the newer members, which in turn would attract more like them.



[This message has been edited by Lil_G (edited March 26, 2001).]

And your total national fraternity is greater than the sum of its parts (chapters). In other words, your chapter refusing to follow the policies set forth only makes your national weaker. But if you feel you are more important than the chapters that follow the rules, then I guess you can rationalize your hazing.

I'm sorry to hear about this happening. We never want to hear bad things about any chapter, anywhere--but-it shows that we aren't going to cover up anything and we don't condone it. When we can discuss it openly here, among ourselves and possibly come up with solutions, it only helps everyone and all of our organizations. I think that parents and prospective rushees can respect that.

[This message has been edited by pledgetrainer2 (edited March 26, 2001).]

Lil_G,

You can achieve this!!!!! That’s my point. But it all starts with the kind of Brotherhood you have in your Chapter and how you create it. Yes, you must create it. It does not just happen. Remember, we are talking about 17-19 year olds who are away from their parents, probably, for the first time in their lives. They are very impressionable. It is that imprint that you, as the Brother, leave on him that guides these later decisions. The decisions that you make as a Brother are based on what? I am now old enough that many of the active Brothers’ fathers(paternal) have become my friends. I now have that additional perspective to place into the equation. I have never heard a derogatory remark from a parent. I have had quite a few absolutely astonished parents offer us their other children to polish off. To me, that is the ultimate complement. It does not go unnoticed to the pledges and new Brothers when parents notice change and the maturation. No system is perfect, ours certainly is not, but were working on it. You should be also. I wish I could lay it out for you, but as you know, I can’t. I believe that my Chapters bonds and Brotherhood is second to none. But my opinion is biased. I also believe that your or any other Chapter of any Fraternity could also have it. It takes an absolute dedication to the principles and ideals of the Chapter. Also, like I said in a previous post, it takes the "intestinal fortitude" too make the hard decisions. Every Fraternity or traditional families have "Black Sheep", and you must trim the fat or you get lazy and sloppy. We take no pride in censoring a Brother, but sometimes it must be done for the good of the whole. Those Chapters that do not or can not do it pay the price. Unfortunately, they also reflect negatively on my Fraternity, my Chapter, my belief in Brotherhood, my Brothers and me as a member of a GLO.

shadokat,

That is mostly true. However, we do not shed a bad light on our Nationals in a public way. If we do ever lose the self discipline as a Chapter and cause our National Fraternity to be criticized, then we will pay and justly so. Yes, we are taking liberties that some might say we should not. Are we being pompous and arrogant in our ways? Maybe. Are we putting our Chapters' charter at risk? Definitely. Are we putting our National Fraternity at risk? No. Are we risking the possibility that there could be bad publicity shed on the National at some point in the future? Yes. Where does that leave us? Its a matter of your perspective. If we followed the letter of the rules and the hazing laws, our chapter would cease too exist.

All of this no hazing, dry house, third party servers bullsh*t is a product of insurance companies. I believe that a few Fraternities nationals truly try to in-force the no hazing rules to the letter, mine does not. While by the letter it is against the rules, it goes with a wink. Also, by the letter of the law, it is illegal. It is also illegal, by the letter of the law, to have oral sex in the State of Georgia and to wear one pant leg inside your boot in the State of Texas if you don't own a 100,000 head of cattle. It is pretty much a Blue law, until you screw up and hurt someone. The solution in our case is to never place a pledge in harms way. Of course, our pledges don't know this. Our pledge program is very regimented. It is scripted too the letter. There is NEVER any freelancing.

Anyway, the bottom line is that we do take liberties that many would say are not ours too take. We do understand the risk. We accept the risk to preserve our ways. The reason is simple, the reward outweighs the risk. The level of commitment to Brotherhood in my Chapter is unparalleled in anything that I have ever seen.

Do you know the difference between involvement and commitment? It is a parallel relationship to a ham and egg breakfast. The chicken was involved.......................................... ...the pig was committed.

N2,
So are you saying that the only way you can have a strong chapter is by hazing? Also, what do define as hazing? I've read in your posts what you think it is not, and the things you are against, but not what you think it is.

N2, I can't speak for all national organizations, but I can say that our policies are not stated with a wink. We are quite serious when we say we do not condone hazing in any forms.

I do agree with one thing you said. The liberty of hazing is not one you can take without reprecussions. I do not claim to know what is involved in your new member program.

When a fraternity does takes the liberties that one has done in this case of Sigma Nu, they jeopardize the national. Imagine if someone had sued the national fraternity over the hazing allegations. That national fraternity may not be able to deal with the expense and resources involved in a lawsuit. Therefore, the chapter jeopardizes the entire national fraternity by making the choices they do.

I hope you can read this and understand that this isn't a direct cut on your fraternity, but the idea that the actions of one chapter can truly harm the future of an entire national organization.

------------------
Delta Phi Epsilon, Celebrating 84 years of Dedication, Pride and Excellence!

N2,
while I don't deny that some parts of hazing serve constuctive puposes: e.g. torking, it is unplesant, but it serves a function.

What I don't believe is that your chapter can maintain the same program without any variance. If you have never lost a pledge into your program, then congratulations, your chapter is pure efficacy. But the one that I de-pledged did, and what they exercised was maybe even worse than what you're talking about. I never ever thought i would drop out, and i'm sure none of my freinds thought that I would, but I did. The fraternity I pledged did not do a good enough job in keeping their pledges. While I understood everything they did, In some parts I didn't agree with it because I saw the negative side effects. In no way do I resent this organisation, or its members, I made a choice that I could start a fraternity better than any available on campus.

Anyways, I'm saying that my pledge program is very challenging and time consuming (for all involved), and it has allowed us to maintain a very tight brotherhood without enforcing some really outdated rite of passage.

Billy,

I guess I've been away a while. I can't give you the specifics. You can look up the definition of hazing. Almost everything we do falls into hazing. NEVER physical or alcohol involved. The process has 3 phases. Breakdown, education, and build up. In the first phase the pledge can do nothing correct. Most of their social habits are broken. We change everything from the way they dress, hairstyle, eat, wipe their ass, ect. As time goes on they have less and less time to spend on outside interest and friendships. Almost all of our DE-pledges come in this phase. For the ones that stay, this is the point that they give up being an individual. They identify their success' and failures' with that of the pledge class. During education they learn all they need to know about acceptable behavior, the Fraternity, Brotherhood, ect. The build up is the most fascinating. The pledge class is placed into situations that they can deal with and succeed on a regular basis. The task become more difficult and much more personal as time goes on. Finally, they get to the point where the pledge class needs the Brothers to succeed, and the Brothers produce. When they get to the level that they are not hesitant or embarrassed by anything, they are ready to begin initiation week.

Lil_G,

We have lost pledges, mostly in the first few weeks. We try very hard not to isolate anyone that DE-pledges. The brothers go out of their way to be friendly with them. We did issue them a bid because they do posses redeeming qualities. Luckily, we have never had an ex-pledge go out of his way to expose what we do. I am sure it will happen one day. The real risk is a late pledge period Black Ball.

Any 30+ year Alumni would recognize our pledge period as his. It has not changed much. One of our highest ideals is tradition. Violating it in my Chapter can be a fatal sin. I believe that this commitment to tradition was a fundamental element to our foundation and a leading contributor to our successes. In my Chapter you reach the summit of Brotherhood as an Alumni Brother, not as an active. The active Chapter answers to the Alumni in a similar manner as the pledges answer to the Brothers. I have seen other Chapters that have strayed because they have initiated a few strong wildcats that get in and start changing things for the worse. It can't happen in my house.

It's sad whenever a fraternity or sorority is removed from campus because it weakens the Greek system as a whole, not to mention what it does to the organization that has lost a chapter! http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/frown.gif