kappa sigma
 

I heard from a friend last night that the Kappa Sigma chapter at Northwestern University was closed over the weekend. anyone know any details on why or for how long they are gone? I think they were one of the biggest houses there

That would surprise me.

They are/were a strong chapter. I'd met a couple of the guys at Conclave and they seemed really cool, really with it. I'm wondering what the hell happened.

your answer...
 

IFC, NU suspend Kappa Sig frat
Return banned until 2007 after incident at Shedd

By Elaine Helm
June 26, 2003
Kappa Sigma fraternity no longer can operate at Northwestern after being suspended by the university and Interfraternity Council on June 23 for violating the terms of a May probation agreement.

The fraternity's national organization also suspended the chapter's charter Wednesday, according to Executive Director Mitchell Wilson.

Sanctions against the chapter resulted from an incident at Kappa Sig's June 4 formal at Shedd Aquarium in Chicago. Fraternity members engaged in acts of major vandalism, alcohol use, animal endangerment and reckless behavior, said Kyle Pendleton, NU's associate director of Greek Affairs.

A Shedd Aquarium official could not provide an account of the incident.

Kappa Sig is not the first fraternity to receive harsh university sanctions in the past few years.

Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity was suspended in 2001 for an alcohol-related incident at an off-campus party. In 2000, NU's chapter of Sigma Chi was kicked off campus after its charter was suspended by the national organization.

Sigma Chi is slated to return to campus in Fall Quarter.

The earliest Kappa Sig may return to campus is January 2007, after all its current members graduate.

"Overall there are good men and strong leaders in the chapter," Pendleton said. "But the undergraduate chapter as a whole has exhibited an unwillingness to uphold the standards of the university and the fraternity."

Pendleton said Kappa Sig "left IFC no other option than to recommend suspension," with repeated violations throughout its probationary period, which was scheduled to end in Spring Quarter 2004. The fraternity was placed on probation after a February incident involving a "pledge dad hunt" that sent an intoxicated freshman pledge to the hospital.

The university is providing housing alternatives for fraternity members who planned to live this summer in the Kappa Sig house at 2251 Sheridan Rd., Pendleton said. As of June 22, the house is closed until further notice.

Although saddened by the loss of the opportunity for Kappa Sig's members to be involved in the Greek community, IFC President Jeremy Esposito, a Medill senior, praised university officials for their willingness to work with IFC to determine sanctions for the fraternity.

"I sincerely hope that the IFC judicial board's handling of this matter proves to the university that not only can Greeks govern themselves, but that they are committed to governing themselves effectively and responsibly," he said in an e-mail to The Summer Northwestern.

IFC's are generally sell-outs . .. sigh.

An alum laments...
 

Here's the link to a Sports Illustrated Online writer that mentioned this incedent in his "mailbag" article:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/ins...andel_mailbag/

Here's the excerpt:

My old fraternity gets kicked off campus : (Figured our largely college-oriented audience might appreciate this one.) Sad to say, the once-proud Kappa Sigma chapter at Northwestern is no more following a formal at Chicago's Shedd Aquarium that went haywire. Without going into detail, all you really need to know is that one of the charges was "animal endangerment." Even the writers of Old School couldn't have dreamt that one up.

This should be good...:rolleyes:

The story didn't give the specifics.
What did they do? Barbeque a koi?

I don't think we're going to get any official story on what actually happened . . . but if I had to take a guess from what we know of the charges, it would be that they got really drunk, wrecked some displays and some of the guys tried to climb into the dolphin tank.

Whatever they did, assuming the newspaper story is correct and it involved some vandalism and animal endangerment, it was a mistake to do it at the Shedd Aquarium, which is one of Chicago's major world-class cultural and educational icons, right up there just behind the Art Institute, the Field Museum, and so on. Causing damage and messing with the animals is not likely to win you any friends in the Chicago power structure. Actually, I'll go out on a limb and say it was a big fat mistake, because the president of Northwestern is a member of the board of trustees of the Shedd, according to his biography on Northwestern's web site at
http://www.northwestern.edu/president/shortbio.html

hehe, figured one of us would mention the dolphin tank!!!:D i was actually thinking the same thing.

as far as other Greek events gone haywire...well, we can always hope that no one submits anything. but we know that won't happen. my guess is there are going to be a lot of
"I'm not in a sorority/frat because i don't buy my friends (or something eqaully moronic) but one of the frats on my campus had this huge party and........"

::sighs:: this is NOT going to be good PR....

Jeez, if this a SI writer, what a slug especially if he really is KS!!


Greek Bashing will flow like the monsoon in season!!!!!:(

Kappa Sigmas are cool, and I like them.




(barbeque a koi... heh heh heh....)

It's always unfortunate when any GLO is suspended, but at the same time, like the article [that shadokat posted] mentioned, " 'I sincerely hope that the IFC judicial board's handling of this matter proves to the university that not only can Greeks govern themselves, but that they are committed to governing themselves effectively and responsibly' "

Thanks...I think we're pretty cool too.

It is a hell of a shame. I always liked the Northwestern guys I met, and it's never a good thing to lose a chapter.

Kappa Sigmas at Davidson College (Davidson, NC) also lost their charter during the spring. New Members beat a goose to death with golf clubs in a public park -- after luring it to them with bread crumbs. It was admitted that this was part of their initiation - i.e. Hell Week. This was a hundred year old chapter. My son is a Kappa Sig and he was understandably upset by the actions of that chapter. Personally, I was just upset as a Greek!

That was another sad story - tough year for Kappa Sig, I hate to hear about losing chapters.

Kappa Sigs Suck!!!


Hey K Sig Kid , docetboy and RC just kiden!!!

We all are s important to our Campus!!!!! Y ou guys are strong at W M Jewel!!!

Go Inter! Bros!!!!!:)

I'm guessing the only way they could have caused trouble is to yes, crawl in the Dolphin Tank. But why on earth would they give someone access to that for any event? I mean come on, you don't give visitors access to stuff like that, so why would you leave an area unguarded or whatever.

Shedd Aquarium is a beautiful place, and I'm very sad to hear that anyone would even dream of vandalizing it. :( Chicago love.

a little off topic....
 

Kappa Sig was on my old campus (william & mary in VA) but was removed before I got there-- rumors abound as to why, some are hazing and date rape related (I'm in no way saying that they're true, there's no way to tell from my vantage point) but I've heard they're pushing for reinstatement at W&M-- does anyone know anything about it?

*C*

The whole Problem is that there are a few AssWholes in a chapter who do things that look bad for the Total Fraternity/Sority and the Greek World!

Stuff coming up about LXA that I despise and hate!

IF, "IF", they screw up as a Group, OFF WITH THEIR HEADS! But if it is some demented asses, then NO!

Demented asses ought to be exunged! OUt of Fraternity/Soroity!:mad:

Re: An alum laments...
 

Did anyone see this month's copy of SI? There was a brief interview with Carson Palmer from USC. He talks about hazing in the NFL and the writer blows it off. SI has a double standard. SI makes a big deal after a fraternity breaks a rule but when an NFL team breaks a law, it is no big deal.

ESPN does the same thing. They always shows hazing in NFL camps. Last year they they visited the Washington Redskins camp and they had footage of the rookie QB taped to the goal posts in his boxers.

You would be amazed at how many colleges/universities look the other way at hazing on the athletic teams. When I first started as a Greek Advisor, my Vice-Chancellor of Student Affairs summoned me to his office for a meeting on hazing (this was right after the big MIT settlement). He asked me what I was doing with the Greeks in regards to hazing education/prevention, and I rattled off this list of things. The Athletic Director and Asst. Athletic Director were there and he asked them the same question. Their response? Oh, some hazing happens, but it isn't a problem. Four years later, I have yet to see anyone from athletics have to attend a hazing speaker, education program, anything... It is a huge double standard.

Re: Re: An alum laments...
 

So, here is (I think) a legitimate question.

Is it hazing if you're being paid a gazillion dollars a year to be the butt of some jokes?

Somehow it seems different in my addled brain.

Non-professional sports are something else, again. And, with only a few exceptions, that is wrongly overlooked.

Re: Re: Re: An alum laments...
 

Yes it is hazing. Not only do the activites of athletes meet the legal definition of hazing but in many cases their actions also meet the legal definition of more serious crimes.

Several years ago a New Orleans Saints football player almost lost an eye after he was hit in the face with a role of quarters.

A rugby player in Minnesota died as a result of a hazing incident.

A high school wrestler in Pennsylvania was raped at a college wrestling camp. The university police and the high school both investigated and found no evidence of wrong doing even though they both conceded that the boy was sodomized. The president of the school board claimed a sexual assault didn't take place because all the parties were of the same sex. The parents eventually sued the school and all the wrestlers were expelled, and wrestling coach fired.

DA. If you boss pays you a gazillion dollars will it be ok for him to hold you down and stick a broomstick where the sun doesn't shine?

I go to Northwestern, and Kappa Sigma was (and still is) my favorite fraternity. They had been on probation for slightly over a year due to an incident with a pledge getting sent to the hospital for alcohol poisoning during a pledge mom hunt.

They had been trying to get back off probation. The Shedd Aquarium thing was really unfortunate; the "animal endangerment" charge relates to someone dropping a flash in a whale tank (the whale was unhurt, he returned the flask to his trainer).

I feel really bad - they were such fun, nice guys, and my pledge brother was president at the time this happened - he had been working so hard to try to get the fraternity back on track.

And unfortunately, it will continue until they are smacked in the face with a real problem. The Alfred study done a couple of years ago confirms what you have seen.

Northern Colorado was the same way until 1994 when a baseball player broke his neck, and is now paralyzed from the neck down as a result of hazing (he was forced to slide down a muddy slope, and hit a rock or light pole - ironically just after the Denver Bronco's had left UNC from their training camp - it was in the same location).

Re: Re: Re: Re: An alum laments...
 

Your point is well taken, but I had a little more humane type of hazing in mind.

While the broomstick example is, in fact, hazing -- it's also assault, and not really what I was thinking about when I posted.

My question is:

What does hazing consist of! Is madmax correct, no!

It just seems that when Greeks do it, it is on Nightly news! When it happens in a Band, Cheerleader, Football, BaseBall or Basketball, when a person dies that is well it happens!:(

When "WE OF THE UPPER CRUST AND ELITE" do it it is a NONO!:o :eek: Of course it is!

But, we are just Alums and College Students who have in the past or even the present do silly things that turn tragic.

I do not pretned to have the answers, that is why I help get a mentoring group started to work with the new members, well and the other members!

Also can be a key part to the development of the Chapters. Just see what the LXAAlum and DeltaAlum do and talk about!:cool:

Dont feel it is just us 3 but many on GC who do the same thing!:)

hey! it is unfortunate to hear that a chapter got shut down and won't be able to open again till 2007 at the earliest...that totally sucks and will really hurt the chapter. i know that colleges need to do what is right and "protect" the students, but sometimes i wonder if by closing down a frat that will really help...because they can always move somewhere else to party or whatnot. i don't think that schools should try to kill the greek organization that they are having a problem with...it's frustrating to see that schools will just react and sometimes too harshly...however, i guess this is how greek life gets a bad name...