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Sigma Pi at Rutgers...
This is awful... this happened at my college last Sat Night between Sigma Pi and Squam (who were Chi Phi before they got their charter revoked by their national, but their alumni were powerful enough to keep them as a local in their house).
http://www.nj.com/newsflash/latestst...9074126141.xml Two N.J. college students hurt in fight By TOM BELL The Associated Press 10/13/2003, 10:01 p.m. ET NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. (AP) — Two Rutgers University students were critically injured in a brawl that involved some members of a fraternity, a social club and the school's wrestling team. The fight broke out early Sunday at an off-campus party following an argument, officials said. Seven people were charged. From 30 to 35 people were on each side of the street fight, with some swinging poles or wooden sticks, said witness Mark Strampfer, 21, a Rutgers senior. John P. Morin, and Robert Morgan, both 20, received head injuries when they were struck with a baseball bat, authorities said. Both were hospitalized in critical condition. Bill Lamb, a Middlesex County prosecutor, said the fight involved members of the Sigma Pi fraternity, the wrestling team and Squam, a social club not recognized by the school. The attack happened outside a house where the social club was having a mixer. Both injured students allegedly belong to the social club. "The mixer was closed and it's alleged Sigma Pi came over and they were denied admittance and that triggered the fight," Lamb said. Jonathan Rodriguez, 23, who allegedly wielded the bat, was a member of the wrestling team last year, but had taken this semester off. He faces weapons offenses, assault and rioting charges, and was being held on $350,000 bail. His twin brother, Kenneth Rodriguez, a senior wrestler, was charged with conspiracy to commit riot, hindering the investigation and a weapons offense. He was being held on $150,000 bail. Five others faced rioting charges. Four attended Rutgers; the fifth was visiting from another college. ___ |
OMG! That is awful! What was going through their heads when they went over there? I mean really! What a shame this had to happen. I really hope those students that were injured come out of everything ok. :(
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Here is another article on it from CNN.com, with a little more information on SQUAM.
Fraternity brawl results in critical injuries Tuesday, October 14, 2003 Posted: 4:51 AM EDT (0851 GMT) An unidentified Squam fraternity member stands on the front steps of the social club where the brawl occurred. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Story Tools -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VIDEO An off-campus brawl that involved members of a Rutgers fraternity, a social club and the wrestling team left two students critically injured. News 12 New Jersey's Cynthia Scott reports (October 14) PLAY VIDEO RELATED Rutgers University University New Jersey or Create your own Manage alerts | What is this? • Rutgers University NEW BRUNSWICK, New Jersey (AP) -- Two Rutgers University students were critically injured in an off-campus brawl that involved members of a Rutgers fraternity, a social club and some members of the school's wrestling team. The fight broke out around 3:30 a.m. Sunday at an off-campus party following an argument, officials said. Seven people were charged. From 30 to 35 people were on each side of the street fight, with some swinging poles or wooden sticks, said Mark Strampfer, 21, a Rutgers senior and witness. John P. Morin, and Robert Morgan, both 20, received serious head injuries when they were struck with a baseball bat, authorities said. Morin was listed in critical condition Monday at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick, spokesman John Patella said. The hospital released no information about Morgan at the request of his family, Patella said. Police and university officials deferred all questions to the Middlesex County prosecutor's office on Monday. Bill Lamb, an assistant prosecutor, said the fight involved some members of the Sigma Pi fraternity, the wrestling team and Squam, a social club that is not recognized by the school. The attack happened outside a house where the social club was having a party, and both injured students allegedly belong to Squam. Jonathan Rodriguez, 23, who allegedly wielded the bat, was a Rutgers student and member of the wrestling team last year, but had taken this semester off. He faces weapons offenses, assault and rioting charges, and was being held without bail. His twin brother, Kenneth Rodriguez, a senior and member of the wrestling team, was charged with conspiracy to commit riot, hindering the investigation and a weapons offense. He was being held on $150,000 bail. Five others faced rioting charges. Four attended Rutgers; the fifth was visiting from another college. Rutgers President Richard L. McCormick said in a statement that the school "will pursue all appropriate actions against any Rutgers students who took part in the incident." Squam, the social club where the fight took place, is owned by a private corporation and was a fraternity house until 1999, according to university records. It was once a fraternity that had its chapter revoked for safety violations and is now considered an off-campus housing unit and not covered by university regulations for fraternities. At the Squam house, candles left over from a Sunday night vigil lined the porch. There was also a sign that read: "John and Rob, our prayers are with you." |
Its horrible... its all people are talking about. Our Greek system is already in horrible condition: what the papers ARENT saying about Squam is why they lost their Chi Phi charter-- in 1999 an illegal freshman pledge "fell" out of a window at his dorm after a night of forced drinking. The year before that, either a brother or pledge (i dont remember) was so drunk that he fell down the stairs at Theta Chi and was killed. SAMMY was accused of burning down their house after they lost their charter (although they are rebuilding it and are back on campus). Chi Psi had "fire violations" and was shut down. All in all, our fraternity system is a mess. This is why, if anyone had read my previous posts, why recruitment numbers are down, and the school would like nothing more than to shut down the entire greek system.
its so sad that the Greek system is getting a bad rep because of bad seeds, but its becoming so commonplace on our campus... |
I was there the night Chi Psi was closed down i thin it was a few years ago when i was a sophmore, the cops got in becasue of fire hazards but they were Definitily (sp?) not shut down because of them.(other factors caused there shut down not gonna say) Also im pretty sure it was a brother who died and if u have ever been down their steps it is not hard to fall down and after a night of drinking they are pretty dangerous. The pledge apparently had other things going on as well, i knew a friend of his who also knew his story (involved a girlfriend and her ex) It is pretty said. However, if Sig Pi at rutgers is soo small and they are made up of , I think , Only wrestlers form the and they are new to the greek system. thankfully we have Sigma Chi and Sig Ep as well as few others that will hopefully stand up and show the positive sides of the greek life at rutgers. It is sad when only the bad shows through and none of the good. I hope everyone is praying for John and Rob.
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yeah I know, thats why "fire violations" was in quotes-- I wasnt there that night, but my roommate was. she was stuck there most of the night and had to leave through a window!! I was a soph also, I think, or a freshman. Quote:
they came back on campus in 2001 I think. and yup, the majority of them are wrestlers-- the two "brothers" who were arrested arent even recognized by Sig Pi national! Quote:
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and actually Squam was having a (probably illegal) mixer with a sorority I wont name (but it wasn't mine). |
Yea, i was stuck at Chi Psi for a while that night as well there for a while as well. Just so all know mixers ususally end around midnight and are than open to the public, atleast that is what i always saw when i was there. And any sorority haveing a mixer with an unofficial frat is shouldnt even be called a mixer since they are not ercognized by the national. I htink i said that right. Im thinking that this fight may have had something to do with a beef the two frats may have had with each other, i just dont know what it would have been, although with drunk guys who knows. i h ope it wasnt my sorority that was having the "mixer". i'll have to check around.
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And on the way chi psi was closed down i didnt mean to repeat what u said, i was just trying to put the "why" in a nice way. :) I htink in that year we lost a few of the frats. Chi Psi, Chi Phi (now Squam) and Sammy, and St. Elmos (sig ep now has their old mansion). Iwas at St. Elmos the summer they were shut down, that was sad and i never figured out why. And it stinks cause they had all been around Rutgers for so long. TKE has almost been shut a few times too. Most were cited because they didnt update their fire sprinklers quick enough. :( Or so the officials say. I wish ppl tried to work with each other a little more. But everyone has their own expectations about how things should be and no one wants to change with the system.
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and yeah, i remember when they had the fire violations, the TKEs and Phi Taus were homeless for a while- remember those T-shirts, hehe :p RU Evicted? |
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My friend slept on thetas fro steps (he was a brother of course) when they were closed for a couple of days. On St.Elmos they used to have a hundred year old hand painted wallpaper that was really pretty, i think it got taken down during teh renovations. my best friend dates an alum of sig ep and he has promised to tak e me to the house to see it next time i am up there. i just found out through a friend that both boys are still in critical condition and as far as she knows it was over them not being allowed in to the house. It is just so sick how can any human hit another over teh head with a bat let alone two. And over not being allowed into a silly party that they werent invited too? i doubt teh Sig pis would have let a bunch of drunk boys (assuming they were drunk) into one of their parties. Sick, thats the only way to describe it. Also my frind is in my soro and knew the guys and their friends and she also let me know it wasnt sig kap. thank god(we need no more probs after how well they have been doing).
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another article.... this one explains that the boys actually WEREN'T Sig Pi's... they had de-pledged for not paying fees, and in another article I read, Sig Pi national said they werent initated brothers.
The sorority Squam was mixing with is Gamma Phi Beta. I was hesitant to mention which one because mixers are basically taboo.. you can only have dry mixers or have mixers with alcohol at third party vendors where they check IDs for those under 21... therefore, most mixers arent reported to the school and are illegal. I wonder if Gamma Phi is going to get in any trouble... hopefully the school wont be hard on them in light of the situation. http://www.app.com/app2001/story/0,21133,831160,00.html 7 nabbed in Rutgers fight Published in the Asbury Park Press 10/14/03 By KEN SERRANO GANNETT NEW JERSEY NEW BRUNSWICK -- It started as a mixer, a get-together between the Gamma Phi Beta sorority and Squamish, an ununofficial fraternity, authorities said. ALEXANDRA PAIS photo Women pass by a makeshift shrine yesterday dedicated to the victims of a brawl at Squam fraternity Sunday morning, Robert J. Morgan and John P. Morin. Both men remain in intensive care at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick. But in the early hours of Sunday, the social function spun out of control. It ended with a melee that left two Squamish members in the surgical intensive care unit at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick after each was struck in the head with a baseball bat. Last night, Robert J. Morgan of Pine Beach and John P. Morin of Cliffside Park, both 20 and juniors at Rutgers University, remained in critical condition, said William Lamb, first assistant Middlesex County prosecutor. Neither Lamb nor anyone contacted at the hospital would comment on their exact conditions. So far, seven men -- including 19-year-old Christopher Gornik of Oceanport and David Mallow, age unavailable, of Brick -- have been arrested and charged. Mallow is a 2001 graduate of Brick Memorial High School. Three men are still being sought. Morgan, the victim from Pine Beach, graduated from Toms River South in 2001. Ron Signorino Jr., a football coach at Toms River South when Morgan was a senior, remembered him as a hard-working, quiet young man. "He was a great kid to have on your team. He was always at practice, never complained and always did what he was asked," said Signorino. The coach said that Morgan was not the type of teen he would expect to be in fights. "In fact, he was just the opposite. That wasn't part of his character." Russell K. Corby, mayor of Pine Beach, is a neighbor of the Morgan family. "I've known the family for about 15 years," Corby said. "He is a regular kid from the neighborhood. He did well in school. I have never heard of him being in trouble for anything." Scott Campbell, another coach at South, also remembered him as a hard worker. "He didn't have great talent. He was a program kid -- the kind of guy you need for a team to have success," said Campbell. Reconstructing events Lamb said authorities were still trying to piece together the brawl that occurred in front of the Squamish, or "Squam," fraternity house at 95 College Ave. at 3:30 a.m. Sunday. "The mixer was closed and apparently people from Sigma Pi came over to get in and were denied entry. That triggered the fight," Lamb said. The fight involved members of Squamish, Sigma Pi and the Rutgers wrestling team, au-thorities said. Lamb said 23-year-old Jonathan Rodriguez of Bound Brook, a former member of the Rutgers wrestling team, hit Morin and Morgan in the head with a baseball bat. Rodriguez, a for-mer Rutgers student who in-tended to re-enroll this winter, faces weapons charges, two counts of aggravated assault and conspiracy to riot. He was freed yesterday on a $350,000 bond. His twin brother, Rutgers se-nior and wrestling team mem-ber Kenneth Rodriguez, was charged with conspiracy, weap-ons possession and hindering apprehension. He was freed yesterday on a $150,000 bond. The other five men arrested re-mained last night at the Mid-dlesex County Adult Correction Center, North Brunswick, in lieu of $150,000 bail each. Matthew Strampfer, 21, a Rut-gers senior who lives in a fra-ternity house across the street from Squam, witnessed the fight. There were about 30 to 35 peo-ple on each side of the street fight, with some swinging poles or wooden sticks, he said. Lamb identified Kenneth Ro-driguez and Gornik as mem-bers of Sigma Pi, whose house is on Union Street. But fraternity members denied that yesterday. Gornik pledged in the spring but was de-pledged on Sept. 15 for failing to pay fees, said Mike Catapano, secretary of the Rutgers chapter. "Neither of the Rodriguez brothers or anyone else in cus-tody is a member of Sigma Pi," he said. Two women who answered the door at the Gamma Beta Phi sorority house yesterday de-clined comment. Members of Squamish issued a statement that read in part: "Our primary concern remains with our brothers who were attacked and injured that eve-ning. We hope and pray for a full and speedy recovery for both of them." As far as the investigation goes, "We have pledged our full support and are ready to pro-vide any assistance that is re-quested of us," the statement read. Other charges filed The following men were charged with conspiracy to riot: Gornik, a Cook College sophomore and wrestler; Mal-low, enrolled at the universi-ty's Newark campus; Justin Smigelsky, 20, of Old Bridge, a Rutgers College junior who is a criminal-justice major and a member of the Rutgers wres-tling team; Bound Brook resi-dent Derek Michalowski, 22, a former Franklin and Marshall College wrestler; 19-year-old Roy Sous, a Livingston College sophomore. Sous and Mallow also are charged with hindering an in-vestigation. Three complaints also were is-sued against other participants in the fight, although they are known only by nicknames, Lamb said. University President Richard L. McCormick issued a state-ment yesterday, saying, "The university deplores the sense-less violence that occurred and will pursue all appropriate ac-tions against any Rutgers stu-dents who took part." |
looks like rutgers is going to loose a wrestling team :( And just so all know sig pi is basically mad up of members of the wrestling team, when it was brought back it was that team that brought it back.
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yeah. I bet those wrestlers were "brothers" in the sense that they were local members or lived in the house, etc, but they probably weren't registered with OFSA or their national, since they tended to be kind of shady about the actual "fraternity" aspect of fraternity... |
Rutgers has had many Greek Org's closed. Both DU and DKE went inactive in the late 1980's-early 1990's both chapters had good numbers and beautiful houses and they died due to hazing.
DU's chapter had been continuously active since 1858. Dammed shame, I met 3 chapter members at the 1986 DU convention in St. Louis, very jock chapter- several football players in the house. DU has listed Rutgers on the expansion list for immediate revival since 2000, I don't think DU will go back now with risk management issues like this fight. I'd hate to be Sigma Pi's insurer about now. |
Just to let you know, DKE got their house back and is , I htink doing well. Th ehouse they had became the rutgers community service house for a few years, i htink juniors and seniors who lived there were supposed to do community service. But DKE got that house back when they were allowed to start up again. So atleast that ended well. It is a beautiful house. It was never a happy time when the frats were shut down. My sisters used to tell us about the "old" days of shutting down union ave and having huge all greek parties and how they wouldnt get lcsed down. Those were the days I never knew. Oh well.
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More developments reported
As of the evening of Oct. 15, WNBC in New York is reporting on its web site that --
-- Rutgers DOES plan to "punish" Gamma Phi Beta for participating in an unregistered mixer (but there is NO suggestion that the sorority was involved in the brawl). No info on what the punishment might be. -- One person who allegedly hit others with a baseball bat is reported as saying he and his (bio) brother did not start the fighting; they only went to the location after getting a call from a friend. -- Some people are saying Sigma Pi was not involved and that any Sigma Pis at the scene were just bystanders. Who knows? Probably more info will appear as time goes by. |
i saw this in my local paper the past weekend. it is too bad that the greek system at rutgers is getting a bad name. i hope that somehow this is able to be cleared up. but i have a question that is sort of off topic....what exactly is SQUAM? are they a local fraternity? or are they just a social organization with a house? i don't really understand.
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Ok that is hard to explain. A long time ago ( ok i htink just hte 70s) i think chi phi had was suspended or something a local, i believe called Squam got their house. Both Chi Phi bros and squam bros got along really well so when the chi phis got their house back they initiated teh squams adn maybe vice versa. I believe later the alumni bought the house and so it was decided if they were ever banned again they would simply turn into squam again until they could recharter but this time i dont think tehy are allowed to charter again so they will prob stay squam. I think i got this right in dojnt know how to word it all. Rissa might k now more.
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Sigma Pi Natl. GLO statement
It should be noted that No Sigma Pi's have been charged in the altercation at Rutgers University. The prosecuting attorney stated that one of the people charged was a member of Sigma Pi but actually he had depledged the fraternity over a month prior to this event, he has since corrected his statement. The people charged were members of the college wrestling team.
Rutgers University has even helped with a formal statement that acknowledges Sigma Pi was not involved in this altercation. Unfortunately, the damage has already been done. Mark S. Briscoe Executive Director Sigma Pi Fraternity PO Box 1897 Vincennes, IN. 47591 P: 812-882-1897 F: 812-726-4602 |
so does Squam stand for something then? or is just a random name?
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it is true that none of the ppl involveed it turns out were Sigma Pi brothers. I do think that one was or had been on the rutgers wrestling team. I still cant believe that this riot as it is being called happened because some drunk guys werent allowed into a closed fraternity party. I still dont know what squam stands for i cant remember. I was told once but now i forget. sry. Maybe rissa knows.
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i think that the some of the guys had been sig pi brothers but the paper is saying that they weren't. so that's kind of confusing. all i know is that one of the wrestler's involved went to my college and was visiting his friends that weekend. so that was interesting.
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I believe that one or two had been members but had been kicked out for not paying dues. So they were not actives. One was not even a student anymore he had taken a leave until next semester. Im not sure hw many were students and/or wrestlers. A few ( I htink 1-3 ppl were let go from the team because of this fight)
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this is so terrible. its such a shame that these few bad seeds ruin all the fun for everyone. i go to rutgers in camden and this past week was our greek week and that is all any was talking about. they weren't asking questions about the different fraternities and sororities at camden but what happened w/a so called "frat" that isnt even recognized by the school. i have been to those parties when union ave was shut down and it was one of the greatest times of my life. everyone was friendly and the cops just made sure no one got alcohol poisoning or drove drunk. its so sad to see that doesnt happen anymore. we are trying to get a greek row at rutgers in camden now that my sorority is chartered and TEP frat is back on campus. the greek life is taking off on this mainly commuter campus and just because we have the same name as new brunswick...we get crap for it too.
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The local fraternity at Rutgers Univ. is called Squam, another name for the intramural sports they are actively involved with, like lacrosse. They claim to be the Rutgers Squamish Team, it's been a traditional lacrosse house on campus I suppose. I don't know if that's exactly right, but that's the story I keep getting. They weren't advertising this sort of thing back when I was there. In any event. Before the recent change to Squam, they were the Chi Phi fraternity at Rutgers. After losing recognition because of an incident in which a freshman pledge committed suicide jumping off the roof of his dorm back in 2000, they went local and called themselves Rho Sigma Tau (letters formed PET on the house) Rho Sigma Tau were the initials for Rutgers Squamish Team. In their defense, since I do not know what became of that plege incident, they were only allegations and I don't think charges were brought against the house. I do not know if the house is really a lacrosse house still, but the Squam name has its tradition and reputation among the group. AXPalum P.S. For your entertainment purposes, this is a mad magazine article from 1965 depicting a satire of a game called 43 Man Squamish. Does it have any connection or relevancy to this? Probably not, but it is funny :) |
thanks for explaining....i always wondered where the name came from because it didn't seem to have any greek reference. i understand now though! thanks!
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Ok, again, this is an old thread, but I was a Chi Phi - Squam. It is funny to hear the speculation regarding the fraternity.
The Mad magazine article was indeed the origin of the fraternity. There was no actual team, but the pledges needed to be able to recite the rules of that game from memory (all I remember at this point was the Pritz or ball was made out of untreated Ibex hide stuffed with blue jay feathers). Squamish is also a place in Canada. The frat had an official letter from them. It was a really fun group of guys, and we did have a good relationship with alumni from both Chi Phi and Squamish. We had the best mixers with Gamma Phi, then ZTA. We had no problems with the other fraternities, and helped organize ROMP (Rutgers Only Major Party). That was a weekend where all fraternities were open to each other. Read my other post for more history. |
Rutgers Chi Phi Squamish fact and fiction
The previous posts clear up most of what has been asked. But one egregious (life & death) error was posted. The Theta Chi fatality was a theta chi pledge who fell down the stairs with a full keg at the Theta Chi house. This happened around 1998 while I was living across the street at the Chi Phi - Squam house.
43 Man Squamish was the basis of the social fraternity Rho Sigma Tau or Rutgers Squamish Team, or simply "Squam." This club started in the 1950s on the Bush campus and maintained a fun club for decades. Chi Phi's delta chapter at Rutgers was on campus since 1867 after being founded at Princeton in 1824 if memory serves. Chi Phi was housed in Pinehurst Manor, 95 College Ave, after 1910. In the late 70's some brothers were busted for drugs and the Chi Phi house was in trouble. They merged with Squam, whom the school administration would allow to maintain the on campus house. From then on all chapter pledges learned the traditions of and pledged the Chi Phi national fraternity and local Squam fraternity. Chi Phi was a typical greek letter fraternity aiming for achievement, brotherhood, social activities, and Squam was a more wild and crazy tradition of fun, humor, and toughness, to generalize both in broad strokes. In 1996 Rutgers began "cleaning up" the Greek system, putting houses that threw parties on probation, banning kegs, intensifying inspections, etc. Most houses that were desired frats also became targets and served various social probations. Chi Phi was among those to get in some minor trouble which just reduced the size of rush and parties and pledge classes. Then in 1999 there was the busting of the Chi Psi house, a rival fraternity, with drug dealers caught and the house closed. The Sigma Alpha Mu house burned down. And a Chi Phi freshman pledge committed suicide jumping off his Busch Campus dorm after some other guy threatened to kill him for sleeping with his girlfriend. This was not a Chi Phi related tragedy except for the kid being a pledge, and being an unpermitted first semester freshman pledge at that. Chi Phi national fraternity revoked the charter and the house, owned by the chapter - not national - lived on without recognition by the University or Chi Phi national. The house changed the letters from Chi Phi to Rho Sigma Tau. The Sigma Pi - Wrestling team incident was basically as reported. Though, many people don't know there was a full scale brawl between the Squams and the wrestling team that had occurred in 1997. About 10 wrestlers came to the house after a few brothers had messed around with them at a bar. Some brothers trying to passify the situation came to the front door. While one of our guys was talking, he got sucker-punched in the eye by a pretty jacked wrestler. He was knocked out and the 20 on 10 brawl resulted in the brothers beating down some wrestlers with no serious injuries. The next semester one of the wrestling team's best wrestlers pledged Squam and there was peace between the two houses for a few years. The next time the wrestling team came for a fight, they brought aluminum baseball bats and you can read about the terrible outcome of that in the NY Times and other stories linked in this thread. Squam was prohibited from campus and the house was occupied by the SDT and/or ZTA sorority(ies) afterwards. Not sure what goes on there today, but those that lived through the Squamish days will remember the bittersweet memories forever. Long live the Great Pumpkin |
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