Gracious Living in America's Heartland
 

Iowa City is shutting down the Beta house at the U. of Iowa on the grounds that it's unsafe and unsanitary --

"Housing inspectors ordered Beta Theta Pi to close after they found food splattered on the walls, piles of garbage and puddles of dried blood on the floors.

They also found numerous fire and safety violations, including broken exit doors, blocked hallways and smoke alarms that didn't work.

Inspector John Bovey said in this case, the tenants were the problem."

The house will be vacated by May 14, the last day of final exams. The future of the chapter is uncertain, according to the news story --

http://www.theiowachannel.com/educat...19/detail.html

Special note to the talented, intelligent and caring undergraduate women of GC -- the next time your chapter gets ticked off because a member of the alumnae housing board b*tches out the entire group because sofa pillows in the formal living area are not being fluffed regularly, just remember -- it can be a slippery slope to pure disaster. :D :D

Re: Gracious Living in America's Heartland
 

As a talent, intelligent, and caring member of an alumnae housing board, I could care less about fluffy pillows, unless they're missing or destroyed :)

Now, if I found fire or safety violations (say, like stuff piled in the hallways or stored on the staircases) let me reassure you, the chapter would probably hate my guts. Seriously ;) :D

Oh boy. I lived in two fraternities over two different summers while I was in school. And while they were far from spotless, I felt fairly safe as far as my health was concerned.

Here is the "discussion question" they have in a link from the story.

Dare I ask?
 

Dare I ask....
how exactly did
get there?
:eek:
SUPER YUCK!
Silver

AOIIAlum -- you're right, of course; I exaggerated for effect, but the point you made is one that comes to mind in reading about the U of Iowa fraternity house: where the heck was the alumni supervision / encouragement ?

AOIISilver -- I don't know how the puddles of dried blood got there, and I probably don't want to know. However, the "breaking news" section of the Des Moines Register web site invites readers to check tomorrow's paper for more details. Maybe they'll have something, maybe they won't.

I printed the article and showed it to a fraternity man who used to be a regional director who I work with and he had a very good point.. "no hazing, no alcohol! They're not doing so bad!"

Dee

Hi AGDee --

Sad to report, the U of Iowa is now investigating the Beta chapter for alcohol violations. The city inspection photos showed a keg in a common area of the house and other evidence of possible alcohol policy infractions.

At least, that's what the story in the Friday 4/30 Des Moines Register says:

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/app...WS08/404300377


BTW the article also mentions that the Beta Theta Pi chapter at the U of Iowa has operated continuously there since 1866! A long history.

I don't think it's that big of a deal.

It's fairly easy to get a house up to code, as long as you have some money in the bank to fund it. This almost recently happened to my house. The Fire Dept. messed up and didn't have a yearly inspection for the last 5 years. Now that they finally noticed, they came up and dealt out about 40 violations. It sucks b/c it's going to cost a lot of money all at once, rather than updating our house a bit at a time every year.

I don't see why a chapter would close just b/c of a few violations especially when they have all summer to get things fixed for a fall inspection.

It turns out that the local paper in Iowa City has put some of the inspection photos on its web site. The pools of dried blood on the kitchen floor reportedly came from rotting meat in the refrigerator, and one of the photos does show big brownish-red splotches in fronbt of the refrigerator. (Well, AOIISilver, you asked.)

Anyhow:

http://www.press-citizen.com/news/042904beta1.htm

...so, all they have to do is run the sweeper and throw away some trash.

I know kids that live in housing that is ten times worse than that, yet they are never brought up to standards. Looks to me like the Beta's out there just didn't have time to clean up after a rough night and got suprised by a fire inspection.

My GOD! That house is absolutely disgusting! How the hell do people live like that? I mean, I've seen fraternity houses, but that one takes the cake. And the sad truth is that these men apparently live that way and don't care!

I have no sympathy for these guys. They SHOULD be thrown out!!!
That is *explitive deleted* disgusting!!!
And the guys are disgusting for living in that filth! That is not from one night of partying.
Meat that seeps blood onto the floor because it is rotting is not from a "rough night". I can just imagine the smell in the house.
Did anyone else go in there? Anotehr fraternity/sorority/Beta Thea Pi alum??

They should be forced tro leave and then they should be forced to clean it up, until it's spotless so people can eat off the floors...although I still wouldn't want to.

Oh, man...I'm so glad we had a housekeeper, a chef, and a house mom to make sure our house didn't end up like that! I appreciated them then, but I appreciate them even more now.

Why?

You don't have to live there. If they are happy with the filth they live in, why should they be made to leave? They are all in college and don't need the city or anyone else to come around and tell them to clean their rooms. Frankly, I think the city is way in the wrong for trying to act like a parent.

How did he figure that this is a chapter without risk management violations? They are only in trouble with what they got caught doing (or in the case of cleaning, not doing.)

My guess, and its just a guess, is that they do haze their pledges, but because its late in the school year, they have no one to do the cleaning.

That's nasty, but at least we can't smell any of it. I don't think that alone warrants closing them down, though -- it would be a shame after how long they've been on campus. The house is gorgeous from the outside, lol.

ETA: I agree with Coramoor. Is the government going to start making people move out of their houses if they're not clean enough?

I don't have any sympathy for them being kicked out.

And obviously it a way worse punishment for them to have to clean the place up then for them t live in it, because they obviously enjoy living in that kind of filth.


Does anyone know who owns the house? Did it say in the article. I might have missed it.

Cleaning the house is hazing....that's a new one to me.

Forcing your pledges/new members to clean the house while the active members sit back and do nothing.

That is hazing.

Making the pledges clean the house, and exempting brothers from doing so, is hazing. And your HQ will agree with me.

Don't put words in my mouth.

Cleaning your fraternity house is not hazing any more than cleaning your apartment. It is your house and it's your responsibility to clean it. Whether you are a pledge or a brother, the house and it's upkeep is part of what it is to be in the fraternity.

Oh, I understand that you don't have any sympathy for them being kicked out.

My question to you is why do they deserved to be kicked out? Having a filthy house is a petty excuse to close a chapter.

Did you see any photos of this house? I did. They were run on the 11 pm news last night. Filth doesn't even begin to describe it, and they didn't even mention the dried blood!

This was an obviously beautifully-done house that some trashy people used in the most disgusting & vile manner! Furniture was torn apart, stuff smeared on the wall, plates & cups strewn about, and bugs *shudder* - it's been months since this place has had the tiniest bit of care. THEIR ALUMNI SHOULD FIGHT TO HAVE EACH MAN WHO LIVES THERE DEACTIVATED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is beyond living is a filthy house - this is disease waiting to spread!!

I wasn't putting words in your mouth. I was responding to the level of specificity in your statement appropriately.

In and of itself, a house that is that messy doesn't prove that there is hazing, but there probably is. Do you think that their house is that messy all year round? I doubt it.

A chapter's operations and culture are interwoven. If this was a chapter that regularly cleaned its house through the shared labor of brothers and pledges, they would not be facing this problem. The most likely scenario (and I could be wrong) is that this is a chapter that forces its pledges to clean, and has a pronounced hierchy between brothers and pledges. Brothers won't clean because that is "pledge work." When all the pledges got initiated, there was no one willing, or coercible, to clean.

What do you not understand why they were kicked off of Campus:(


If filth is good to live in then live in it!:o

This maybe the Oldest Greek Organization on Campus, they screwed up.:mad:

I am sure that not only The School, The International Organization and their Brothers are dismayed by this along with All Greeks!:(

The Safety of The Members should be the first thought.

are you serious? please say you're being sarcastic...

I mean every word, except the forgotten question mark. Their alumnae donated some serious money to make this a nice house, and the actives had complete disregard for that. I've seen photos of places where children or animals are taken from which looked cleaner. A tornado could have only improved the filth.

People, we are not talking about dust, or clutter, or that type of messy. This house is in a catagory of its own when it comes to filth! I can say this, as I am NOT a neat freak, and know that (since I've had to stay with my mother for a while as she recuperates) that I have a stack of unread newspapers in my living room, it's not been dusted or vacuumed, and I will probably hire a cleaning crew before I move back into it.

As an alumna, when I donate money towards my chapter's Housing Corporation, I expect to see some clutter, but not this rank of filth!

I guess I'm coming from the standpoint of a university-owned housing system... in that case, they need to go ahead and put me out now for having a dirty dorm room. (not THAT dirty, though!!)

But I suppose, coming from the standpoint of alums coming out of pocket, and the guys showing complete disrespect for that, I can see how Beta Theta Pi would have reason to take some action against them. However, that still doesn't give the university grounds for kicking them off campus, necessarily.

But as type this (I'm always thinking... no one can say I'm not open-minded!) I CAN see how the university could have grounds if this WERE a university-owned house, or if it were on university-owned property; if the house doesn't even meet standard health codes, and these guys were responsible for letting it fall to shambles (i.e., not just dirty, but serious health and bulding code violations-- to the extent of the house being deemed condemned or something), I can see the university having every right to take action to protect their property.

I think this is the real issue, that the house is on Uni grounds and they could be responsible for the health code violations and fines. Believe me, if you live off campus, the university doesn't give a crap if you live in garbage up to your knees.

And I don't think this has to do with hazing, I think it just has to do with a bunch of piggies living there.

I don't get it, unless there are structural problems why are they being kicked out? A thousand dollars would more than compensate a cleaining company to come in and get the worst of it.

Next year they should budget for bu-weekly cleaning service.

I agree with Coramoor its there business if they want to live with neglect, and is not indicative of being evil people.

If they're being kicked out because the buidling isn't up to code, it doesn't need to be a structural issue. It's not that they're being put out so that the school will have time to fix it, they're being kicked out as punishment for letting the building lapse into a condemned state. It's like when social services come into a house a find a filthy baby...(not a baby in a filthy house, but an actual dirty baby) they're not going to just leave the baby there and come back in an hour after you give the kid a bath; to protect the child and punish you for letting your kid get that filthy is to take the kid away. If they damaged university property due to neglect, the school definitely has a leg to stand on.

ETA: the babyness was the first example i could think of, and the words "filthy baby" just... tickle me for some reason. :p

Ahhhh must have been women (maybe from this site) that did the inspecting and found them unworthy of housing even in the future :p

Actually, I've worked for a social service agency and I've seen houses worse than this where children were not removed.

Anyway, I was looking at the web site for this chapter earlier today, and there was an email address for the House Father -- where was he when the mess was growing? I could be wrong, but I'd guess that for most college aged men, cleaning the house is not a top priority. If the alumni put money into the house, as I'm assuming they have, wouldn't they check in from time to time to see how things are going with the house? Wouldn't it be more constructive for the alumni to work with the collegiates to clean up the house rather than kicking them out or deactivating them? I don't see how it's such a big deal, really.

As far as I know, the houses at Iowa are not owned by the University nor are they on University property. It looks like the issue here is with the city.

Oh, golly gee whiz, dont kick them off for living like slobs and were fore warned!:rolleyes: Excuses are a penny a pound!

Structural is not the only reason to shut down a House as well as a Resturant you may have been eating in! Da!:rolleyes:

Try taking your parents into Your Domain as a Brother/Sister and seeing this kind of S**T! Or your Mother Needs to use The Resroom and NO DAMN TOILET PAPER!:mad:

What the hell would you feel like, embarassed for the Arses that live there and have no respect for themselves, their dates, new rushees, or parents!:(

Either pay more to live there and hire cleaning out or go back to Pledges in searvitude cleaning common areas!

Did you live in squalor from where you came from? Were you taught better than that!?

Hell, I went to college and My Room was neat and clean in the Dorm and when I moved into our first house.

OMG, they are just kids, well, boot their asses off campus if need be! Da, Or lie down with pigs! How in the hell do they continue to stay there and grow?

If it is a conspericy to boot Betas off, then they should fight it!:) Dont look like it is happening does it?:confused:

It also looks like one of the main issues of them being kicked off is violations of alcohol policies--a keg (clearly shown in one of the pictures) and alcohol in public areas of the house are against IFC regulations and possibly Beta Theta Pi regulations.

The U of I IFC and Panhel is really trying to crack down on alcohol violations within the Greek Community as they have been a consistent problem within some chapters.

And it also appears there were two inspections--note pictures dated March 3 and April 22. Most likely, there was one inspection by the Fire Marshal, they noted the problems and gave the men 6 weeks to clean up. At the second inspection, no noticable improvements were made so the decision to close was made. Chapter houses are not University owned but they are required to follow city housing codes. Because of the type of dwelling they are (multiple-story, multiple-person) the codes may be more strict.

ISUKappa -- good points; note that March 3 was a Wednesday and April 22 was a Thursday, so it's unlikely that we're just looking at some Monday-morning litter left over from a weekend. In a way I do feel sorry for the guys who spoke with reporters. They may have gotten in over their heads -- when it gets to the point where you're saying you've never seen rats or mice in the house, no matter what the city inspectors say about rodent tooth marks -- well, you've got a PR problem. Just can't help wishing the men in the chapter had called the 800 number on Beta HQ's web site and asked for some assistance with communications.

Update: Charter Pulled
 

According to NBC affiliate KWWL in Iowa, the Beta Theta Pi chapter at the U. of Iowa has lost its charter. Reportedly Beta national says there will be a recolonization, but no date has been set.

Sad to see a chapter lose its charter.

The TV station's report:

http://www.kwwl.com/Global/story.asp?S=1842697