Lambda Chi Alpha chapter Suspended for 2 Years (Wisconsin-Whitewater)
 

According to regional media, Wisonsin - Whitewater and Lambda Chi Alpha have jointly suspended the chapter there for 2 years. Violations of alcohol policies reportedly are the cause:

http://www.themilwaukeechannel.com/n...70/detail.html

if any one wants the real story PM me bc this is not the truth. this is my chapter and things are belown out of context.

I'm not really surprised at this.

To be honest, I'm not really surprised when ANY Wisconsin fraternity gets shut down. ;)

I am apauled by your commints sugar and spice and GeekyPenguin. We actually partied less then most of the population of UWW. Plus it doesnt tell you about the 54000 lbs of food that collected for the local food pantery, the $2000 that we donanted for the Whiterwater Fire Department, and the $10000 that we donanted to the American Cancer Socitey.

You forgot to mention your t-shirts that I was appalled by.

"Brotherhood tighter than your little sister"

Ok, I will admit that I didn't read the article. I jsut read the first post that said it was because of alcohol policy violations. If the chapter was suspended for alcohol violations, then these things shouldn't make a difference. You should not get more leniency on alcohol regulations because you raise alot of money for charity.

This is correct. Violating a national policy is violating a national policy, even if you do everything else right. It's like saying you shouldn't get in trouble for speeding because you that morning you helped an old lady cross the street.

OH NO THEY DIIN'T!!!

Exactly.

I am so sick of Greeks using their philanthropy work as an excuse to get away with all this other BS that they try to pull. Raising money for charity doesn't mean that you don't violate alcohol policies. Bait & switch, kids.

You can be apalled by my comments all you want. The fact of the matter is that the vast majority of fraternities in Wisconsin have enough alcohol, hazing, and assorted other risk management issues that I'm never surprised when one gets shut down. That's not a comment specifically designed to insult you or your chapter, because I don't know enough about you or them to do that. I'm just speaking in generalities from what I know of the UW-W system.

Oh but they did! Pre-pubescent girl in lingerie holding a teddy bear.

Sexy.

Oh Wisconsin fraternity men, you're such gentlemen. The epitome of class, really.


(Anybody see why I don't date frat boys? ;) )

Uh, and?

You do ooka billions of hours of community service and donate $$$ till kingdom come, but once you fuck something up (hi, underage drinking)...all the good stuff you do doesn't matter. Is it okay to overlook the rules against underage drinking if you guys give so much time and $$$ to charity? Yeah kid, I didn't think so.

A fraternity/sorority HQ thinks long and hard and investigates the situation thoroughly before making any kind of decision to suspend a chapter. Sounds like your HQ had enough reason (so much so that even your university agreed) to suspend y'all.

If your chapter didn't want the bad press, they shouldn't have given the press stuff to write about.

While the article may have ignored the good that the chapter had done, that doesn't mean that it excuses the bad that the chapter has done - it's not a case of one balancing the other... bad is bad, no matter what good the chapter has done.

Unfortunately I can think of many houses and chapters that try to rationalize their behavior in the same light - somehow convincing themselves that since the have done som many laudable things that they should be forgiven for their failings... only problem is that's not how it works in the real world.

This last part is too true unfortunately... considering the fact that the press is much more apt to report GLO (or any other group) failings than they are successes - a fact that I wish more members where aware of when thinking through some ideas... such as:

<shaking head>

It's stupid, moronically juvenile, jack-ass stuff like this that reinforces the negative stereotype of the "Frat Boy". I have always felt as a Brother that stuff like the aboved mentioned shirt is an indication of a chapter in serious trouble - simply because somewhere along the line common sense (and not to mention taste) was set aside in the pursuit of pleasure... which then of course leads to other "slips" or infractions against the chapter... until finally they slip one time to many.

quote:
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Originally posted by valkyrie
OH NO THEY DIIN'T!!!
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(Reply by Geeky Penguin}:

Oh but they did! Pre-pubescent girl in lingerie holding a teddy bear.

And where were the chapter advisor(s) and the alumni ? Or did they, too, think that somehow a shirt like that would add luster to the chpter's image?

RA cooper -- excellent observations.

Well, then good for Lamda Chi Alpha for not being as loose with the policies as other fraternites. In the fraternity world right now, there is not room for exceptions, and its good that Lamda Chi is stepping up and realizing that your chapter is hurting the fraternity

The facts are... no fraternity WANTS there chapter to fail. It doesn't put a smiley face on their record. So, the fact that LXA decided to end it, must mean that you deserved it. I know, it sucks to have your charter revoked, and that may or may of not been your fault, but there is no way you can argue that it was with out cause

Ick.

And I know it's nice to take credit for gathering that much food, but really, isn't it the other greeks on campus who are responsible for buying/getting it donated? That's how it was done on my campus, I had sort of thought that was the purpose of the philanthropy. It was a competition among the sororities.

It's not cool to take all the credit for it.

And the above posters are correct. No amount of community service can counteract the violations, and that horrible t-shirt.

And i'm generally not the GC grammar nazi, but i'm APPALLED and the incredible amount of blatant spelling errors. Sheesh. Quit the drinking and start some learnin'.

It might not be the case in UWW (just as it isn't here in Toronto) - some chapters get well over 95% of their food during the food-drive from going out into the community and going door to door to collect donations from individuals... I know I have spent days picking up donations from different neighbourhoods.

There was a need for this to be said and it was.

It was professionaly handled by LXA IHQ, and the School.

So why beat the shit out of them on a Greek Web Site.

How many GLOs have not gotten in trouble for the very same thing?:rolleyes:


I and everyone of My Brothers are saddened by this, but, if it needed to be done, then it was.

Actually every Greek Member on GC should feel the same way!

Who is "beating the shit" out of them? I know from personal experience with brothers from this chapter that they were

a) not interested in following rules and
b) not interested in respecting women

I'm sure that when and if LXA recolonizes, they will think harder about how to choose members.

GeekyPenguin, We have never had a shirt that said that at least @ UWW. I have seen all shirts dating back to 1990. I know that the local here at UWW has had a shirt like that in the last couple of years.

I was not trying to rationalize our alcohol violations. The fact is the so call party at the beginning of the year was not a party, it was something a couple of guys did that wasnt smart.

What the acticle had gotten wrong was that is was the school and only the school that suspended us. We were put on probation by IHQ during our Leadership Seminar. Tom and everyother LCA on this site knows that when a Chapter loses reconition from the school 9 times out of 10. LCA will also close the chapter too.

I really thought it was your chapter, but if it wasn't, then I apologize. It was two three summers ago, and I definitely could be remembering wrong. I apologize if I am.

I don't know Tom...you've come down pretty hard on chapters on this board before. Just because it's a Lambda Chi chapter doesn't mean it's immune from criticism.

Go big popular school with the good football team. ;)

GP is right. Wisconsin schools, on the whole, tend to have more risk management issues, especially with drinking, but also with hazing. While I can't say that I'm hard-pressed to name three national organizations from my campus that aren't in trouble with their HQs, I can say with a decent amount of authority that most of the fraternities who aren't in trouble with their HQs would be if their HQs actually had a clue what was going on. This is true on every Wisconsin campus I've known. Sure, this stuff goes on elsewhere -- but it is especially pervasive in Wisconsin, just based on Wisconsin culture as a whole. I've found that the drinking/fraternity culture tends to breed a mild-to-moderate lack of, at best, understanding, and at worst, respect -- for women, people of color, and the LGBT community. The "entitled frat boy" stereotype is well and alive at many of the bigger/more expensive schools.

Obviously there are exceptions to every rule, but the fact of the matter is that I have yet to find a Wisconsin fraternity man that has escaped that culture, whereas I know several fraternity men outside of Wisconsin who don't buy into it. That doesn't mean that I don't have Wisconsin frat boy friends, that some of them aren't nice guys or even great guys, and god knows that when I'm looking for a challenge in beer pong I know exactly where to go -- but gentlemen they are not.

You're welcome to try and disprove my theory that Wisconsin fraternity men are not classy, but I'm gonna be honest, your first attempt was less than stellar.



ps: I lied; I do know one Wisconsin fraternity man that I would consider a gentleman, but there's no way we'd ever end up dating . . . since he's gay.

sugar and spice

You say that like you know every Wisconsin frat guy. If you knew me as a person not just from what my chapter has done i would be able to prove you wrong. i am not saying that i am not a jackass at times but the only time i am that way is if you piss me off first. I personly can tell you DZlove can tell you how us chops are here at UWW. I know her and have become good friends with a few girls from her pledge class. It is not just her but the fine women from Tri Sigma and Alpha Sigma can offer input to.

Yeah, I guess I don't get it. The actions of the few on her campus, dictate what she believes for a whole state?? Of course greeks from FL. are going to be different than WI, they're from FL, we're from WI. duh. Talk about stereotyping. That'd be like me saying "all the guys in Cali. are surfer air-heads, therefore all the frat guys in Cali. must be surfer air-heads". Or, kinda like me saying I knew a DDD and she was a real bitch, therefore all DDD's from WI must be bitches.

Oh, and I wasn't trying to impress you. I really don't care too much. It is apparent that you are a man hater, especially to WI men. Do us all a favor, move to NY where being snobby is the norm. Oh wait, I shouldn't have said that, that's stereotyping.

Until you pull out some concrete stats, your small circle of 'WI Greeks' that you know, really doesn't prove much of anything.

PS, Please post the numbers/stats/evidence that you and GP have that prove that WI fraternity men and sorority women have greater risk management issues than the other states.

Until you can prove your theory, I don't need to prove it wrong - because it's just that, a theory.

Dude, i'm not from Wisconsin, i've never been there, probably never will be there and really don't care. But you're making yourself look anything but classy.

Thanks.

Chopper - I feel bad for what happened to your chapter. I'd be real upset if my chapter was closed. I'd be hurt. It's like having your family ripped out from around you. But you dont seem to take any responsability in what happened. I am sick of every chapter that gets closed playing the victim. its real old. Someday, somewhere a fraternity man in a closed chapter will stand up and publicly say, "We effed up bad, and we're not surprised we got closed." When that day rolls up, I'll eat my hat <to borrow a famous GC line>.

Remember, just six weeks ago I READ the dossier on the risk management happenings of your chapter at UWW. You all were no angels.

Also, if you want to be mad, be pissed at your boy 'zimbrickc' for posting all those photos online in the first place. Yes, there was that undergrad at their chapter. The guy who takes the photos of the alcohol and other policy violations, as they are happening, and then is genius enough to post them online for the world to see. Yeah, the photos are down now, but they were up long enough for everyone who has any decision making ability to see. I can guarantee that if I had seen them, all the Student Affairs staff at UWW saw them. Why you all didn’t roll his ass for that stunt, I'll never understand.

Again, the brothers at UWW (at least the ones in the photos) were no angels.

Lifesavers Free Life Lesson #1 - If you don’t self-regulate, those above you will. In greek life, work life, etc.

The saddest part to me, was they did/do have very involved alumni. The alumni knew what was going on, and it was allowed to continue. It was justified (by the alums) as "they were just blowing off some steam - cause the house was going dry next year.' (Overheard PERSONALLY BY ME from someone in your chapter.)

I obviously don’t care to protect anyone just because they are a Lambda Chi. Our brotherhood is based on mutual accountability. People who screw up need to be held accountable. It just takes one successful judgment for $200 million to close ANY Inter/national GLO. No one is immune and you are a effing fool if you think you are (Most GLO insurance policies only cover up to $10 Million and the orgs. foundations wouldn’t dare let their reserves be used for a judgment. That’s why most of them are separate non-profits).

Don’t get your knickers in a twist tho. UWW has a long history in LXA. You’ll be open again in 2 years.

Lifesaver-

The Zimbrick thing was being dealed with in house. I never agreed with him posting the pics, I even had asked him to take them down myself but he didnt.

I have never said that we were completely insocent. Yes we had our short coming but when the shit hit the fan. We started to change our ways. Yes our alumi are very active towards the house. One of the guys put it this way last night; We were just following what the alumi had started. And Yes half the alumi are mad but the other realize that we were just living up to there standards.

Also last night we had a decussion about the greek system bewteen the two chapters that are kicked off campus and members of the rest of chapters here at whitewater. During the meeting everyone came to the conclusion that UWW and the City of Whitewater are trying to get rid of the greek system.

And yes dont worry we will be back at whitewater as soon as we can.

In ZAX

FYI, I am not judging simply on the fraternity men on my own campus -- obviously, I know many fraternity members at UW-Madison, but I also know or have met those from Lawrence, Marquette, UW-Milwaukee, UW-Whitewater, and a number of the other system schools.

For the record, GeekyPenguin is currently dating a Wisconsin fraternity man, and she has yet to tell me I'm wrong. ;)

I freely admit that I am stereotyping, and I won't rule out the possibility that someday I may meet a Wisconsin fraternity man who conducts himself with class. However, based on the aforementioned things (their unfortunate track record so far, Wisconsin culture as a whole, the role that alcohol and hazing usually play), it seems unlikely.

chopper -- GP and I have not been entirely fair to you in this thread, and for that I apologize. However, if you want LXA to survive after its return in a couple years, you HAVE to start taking responsibility for your actions and the actions of your chapter. I've heard "The admin wants to shut us down/end Greek life!" at various Wisconsin campuses over the years. Well, of course they do if it's proven again and again that fraternity and sorority members can't follow the rules that have been set up by the university and their HQ! That's not the school or the city being unfair -- it's you guys f-ing up!

Back in 2000, before I was a member of my chapter, we got in trouble with our HQ for "hazing" (a scavenger hunt). Five members were kicked out and we were put on probation by HQ. My chapter could have kept doing the scavenger hunt without HQ's knowledge, they could have complained about how it's not really hazing and nobody was upset by it, they could have complained about how HQ is just full of people who don't understand fun and wanted to shut our chapter down. What did my chapter do? THEY STOPPED DOING IT. Strangely enough, we haven't gotten in trouble for hazing since . . .

You can't get in trouble for doing something you're not doing.

Wisconsin chapters tend to be more lackadaisical about rules. I think part of it is that the majority of us are very far removed from our headquarters, and because on many of the satellite (ie, non-Madison) campuses, the local groups are very prevalent and the national groups may feel they have to break rules in order to remain competitive.

Wisconsin's drinking culture really is unlike that of a lot other places - people feel it really is their God-given right to consume a beer whenever they desire one, regardless of the law.

I have attended two UW system schools (one for summer school) and graduated from MU. I saw every single fraternity at Platteville engage in poor risk management, ranging from a keg on the front lawn to attempting to steal ritual equipment from another chapter. I saw chapters at Whitewater drinking on their front lawn in the middle of the day and rolling kegs down the street. I saw a chapter at Marquette lose their house, and I've witnessed chapters at Marquette and Platteville haze.

My boyfriend's chapter was founded with the intention of being different, and 90% of the time, they are, but this also hurts them to some extent - they had very negative interGreek relations for a long time, and my freshman year, I heard all about how they weren't a "real" fraternity because they didn't beat the snot out of their new members.

I understand why chapters have these attitudes - at some point, some members decided it was a good idea and then there was alumni pressure. My chapter was engaging in some activities similar to that of sugar and spice's, and we got in a LOT of trouble for it. Meanwhile, one fraternity is making their pledges run around naked and another one is engaging in activities that would work hoosier into a frenzy.

I think thee are definite exceptions to this on every campus - but how much have they been stigmatized??? In Wisconsin, following risk management guidelines, especially within fraternities, is not "cool." I would love to see this change because so much of the behavior that occurs is absolutely ridiculous.

From what lifesaver says, it sounds like the chapter in discussion in this thread could have handled it internally and did not. They should have, and it would have saved us this discussion. If nothing else, maybe it will be a wakeup call for a lot of other Wisconsin GLOs to think about whether this behavior is worth losing their charter.

Maybe it will help a lot of other GLOs even out side of Wis.

But, unfortunately, probably not!:(

All one has to do is look at R M Thread and see what I am talking about.

Can anyone name a State that has not had a Chapter in trouble?:confused:

How far removed is far from HQs? Not really sure what that has to do with it. If every GLO was HDQ in KC, it would still be far but not forgotten.

If a GLO is far from their HQ, they are less likely to get visits and the HQ is less likely to "hear through the grapevine" about activities of the chapters.

No the problem is that it's too damn cold up there.

If there was snow on the ground for 10 months out of the year here, I'd be a 'holic too.

Thats why the russians are all drunks. Its too cold to do anything else.

lol.

LOL, I'd say summer is more of the prime drinking season here with all the fests - but you haven't really lived until you've walked a mile to a fraternity party sans coat in -10 degree weather. :)

Yeah, were wusses. We wig out if/when the temp briefly dips below 45 degrees.

I couldnt deal with it.

It takes a real trooper to walk two miles in a foot a snow just to drink. There were nights i ask myself why are you drinking on a night like this, and i said to there is nothing else to do then to get drunk.

You forgot "uphill both ways."

Dean comments about ther chapter:

_ Dean Wormer: Greg, what is the worst fraternity on this campus?
Greg: Well that would be hard to say, sir. They`re each outstanding in their own way.
Dean Wormer: Cut the horseshit, son. I`ve got their disciplinary files right here. Who dropped a whole truckload of fizzies into the swim meet? Who delivered the medical school cadavers to the alumni dinner? Every Halloween, the trees are filled with underwear. Every spring, the toilets explode.