Sig Chi hazers suspended at U Missouri
 

Sat, Oct. 19, 2002
Mo. Fraternity Suspended for Hazing


COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) - A fraternity at the University of Missouri-Columbia was suspended for four years for violating the school's anti-hazing policy.

Sigma Chi was already on probation for a previous hazing incident when pledges complained in early September about their treatment by active members.

The fraternity will be able to seek reinstatement in July 2004 under the punishment announced Friday by Cathy Scroggs, the university's interim vice chancellor for student affairs. Scroggs upheld a decision issued earlier by Greek Life coordinator Chris Linder.

"We simply cannot allow the kind of activity that Sigma Chi members were engaging in to go unpunished, and we want to send a clear message that the mental and physical well being of our students is our top priority," Scroggs said.

An investigation by Linder found that, among other things, pledges were made to sit for up to two hours with pillowcases over their heads while fraternity members yelled insults and poured alcohol on them.

Other fraternity members' actions included making pledges shave without shaving cream, keeping pledges awake by pounding on their doors, blowing horns and breaking beer bottles, and making pledges clean up bins of trash that had been tossed into halls.

The suspension bars Sigma Chi from taking part in certain events as a student organization, including Homecoming and Greek Week.

Tough consequences for not following the rules:

From: Fraternity/Sorority Newsclips <doug.case@sdsu.edu>
Subject: U suspends fraternity four years for hazing

Columbia Daily Tribune
Columbia, MO
October 18, 2002

MU suspends fraternity four years for hazing

By CORY de VERA of the Tribune's staff

The Sigma Chi fraternity is suspended for four years with the option
to petition for reinstatement after June 30, 2004, punishment meted
out for hazing that occurred at the house, officials at the
University of Missouri-Columbia said this morning.

"We simply cannot allow the kind of activity that Sigma Chi members
were engaging in to go unpunished, and we want to send a clear
message that the mental and physical well-being of our students is
our top priority," said Cathy Scroggs, interim vice chancellor for
student affairs, in upholding a previous decision issued by Chris
Linder, coordinator of Greek Life.

Suspension means the group cannot participate as a student
organization in any events organized by the Panhellenic Council or
the Interfraternity Council, including Homecoming and Greek Week.

While members will not be forced by the university to move out of the
chapter house, MU is sending letters out to the parents of all
members, apprising them of the situation.

Jay Robertson, Sigma Chi's president, was unavailable for comment.

According to a Greek Life tracking report distributed to reporters by
Scroggs this morning, the office of Greek life began receiving
reports of hazing at the fraternity from different sources in early
September.

Allegations included that pledges had ammonia poured on their heads,
were forced to drink from a spit cup, were slapped and had to sit
with pillowcases over their heads for hours while active members
insulted them or poured alcohol on them.

One source said active members threw Dumpsters full of trash in the
hallways and urinated in the halls, expecting pledges to clean up
afterward.

University officials interviewed all 33 pledges and determined that
some of those allegations happened sporadically to a few members.

The organization was specifically held responsible for assigning
excessive work sessions, holding lineups where pledges were insulted
and humiliated, and for sleep deprivation.

All 33 pledges confirmed that hazing was occurring; such actions were
harming students' academic success, Linder said.

Copyright © 2002 The Columbia Daily Tribune. All Rights Reserved.


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Message: 3
Date: Mon, 21 Oct 2002 22:01:56 -0700
From: Fraternity/Sorority Newsclips <doug.case@sdsu.edu>
Subject: U. Missouri's Sigma Chi suspension finalized

The Maneater
University of Missouri
October 18, 2002,

U. Missouri's Sigma Chi suspension finalized

By Kelly Garrett, The Maneater

Sigma Chi fraternity will not be recognized by the University of
Missouri for the next four years, according to a ruling handed down
Thursday evening by Cathy Scroggs, interim vice chancellor for
Student Affairs. This ruling upholds sanctions recommended for the
fraternity by Greek Life last month after members were accused of
hazing new pledges.

"The university has a policy on hazing," Scroggs said. "Members of
this fraternity knew this was going on, and they didn't try to stop
it." The university did not release details of the violation or
investigation until the decision was final.

The decision, Scroggs said, was based on the most recent incident and
on past violations by Sigma Chi. Greek Life coordinator Chris Linder,
who handled the initial investigation of the issue, said the
fraternity has a history of hazing incidents and alcohol violations.

Linder said she interviewed all 33 pledges to verify the hazing
accusations. University officials said a report of the investigation
was leaked to KMIZ/Channel 17.

Before the official ruling was made, Sigma Chi members confirmed the
reports by KMIZ/Channel 17 during an appeal hearing with the
Committee on Student Organizations, Governments and Activities.

The report included details about members pouring ammonia on pledges'
heads, making pledges shave without shaving cream and forcing pledges
to drink from a tobacco spittoon.

"Everything on KMIZ was found to be true," said Mark Lucas, interim
director of Student Life. "(The fraternity) didn't deny any of that.
They said it was all true."

Scroggs said MU has tried to work with the fraternity in the past.

"We told them that the climate in the house had to change," Scroggs
said. "It didn't, and this is the way to force the climate to change."

Scroggs said hazing this fall included sleep deprivation, ridicule
and other mental abuses.

For now, the fraternity no longer will be recognized as a student
organization. While new members will not be required to leave the
house, Scroggs said letters will be sent to parents encouraging them
to have their children move.

While their future is uncertain, Sigma Chi members remain optimistic
about the outcome of this situation and the future of their chapter.
Executive house director Jeff Woodard said the alumni were the first
to hear about the sanctions and that they have already been to the
house to meet with the members. Even before the sanctions were in
place, Woodard said, Sigma Chi was working hard to improve their
fraternity.

"What the public doesn't know is that Sigma Chi was taking steps to
blow the lid up on improvement," he said.

Woodard said the process was a big disruption to the lives of the
members. Normally, members sign a six-semester contract that has a
penalty if broken, though Woodard was unsure of the monetary penalty.
Due to recent events, Woodard said the fraternity is letting members
out of those housing contracts without penalties.

Without being able to recruit incoming freshmen each year, the
fraternity is left with no new sources of income. Woodard said,
however, that Sigma Chi will depend on the fraternity's alumni to
support it for the next four years.

Woodard said he believes the hazing was limited to a few isolated
incidents. He said many members were unaware of the accusations until
the investigation began.

"The pledge class was most shocked," Woodard said.

(C) 2002 The Maneater

woah...
 

oh, the craziness! I had yet to hear of the real hardcore hazing so close to home! :eek: