Muhlenberg TKE's get 3 year suspention
 

Sounds like they got screwed. I am sure they can win on appeal. The chapter got the punishment because of the action of a few guys. They didn't even give IHQ chance to review it before they made the decission.



The Morning Call
Allentown, PA
February 21, 2003

'Berg bars fraternity 3 years
TKE suspended for alleged assaults, drug use. Action is college's
third since 2000.

By Christina Gostomski
Of The Morning Call

Muhlenberg College handed Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity a three-year
suspension Thursday after punishing some of its members for alleged
sexual and simple assaults, underage drinking, alcohol abuse and drug
use.

The fraternity won't be allowed to return until the fall of 2006.
That sanction makes the Greek organization the third fraternity in
three years to be kicked off campus.

''I feel heartbroken,'' said Jonathan Rosen, president of the
fraternity, also called TKE.

The disciplinary action followed ''repeated violations of the social
code,'' said Michael Bruckner, spokesman for the Allentown college.

Citing student privacy, college officials wouldn't go into detail
about the violations, but Associate Dean of Students Chip Hurd said
they included allegations of two sexual assaults and one simple
assault last semester and one sexual assault this semester.

Hurd, a Muhlenberg and TKE alumnus, said there also were ''several''
reported incidents involving underage drinking, alcohol abuse and
drug use this academic year.

The school's judicial board, which consists of students, staff and
faculty, heard allegations against the fraternity on Feb. 7. The
board then recommended to Dean of Students Rudy Ehrenberg that TKE be
suspended. Ehrenberg concurred, and the fraternity, which has about
50 members, was notified Wednesday.

The 19 TKE members who live in the off-campus fraternity house at
2309 Turner St. may stay there through the end of the semester. No
social events or alcohol will be permitted, a college staff member
will move in, and students will face regular inspections.

College officials hope the sanctions will deter fraternity members
from destroying the house before moving out. The house is owned by
the TKE alumni association, but the college owns the property.

On Thursday, students complained about the suspension.

''They're holding a whole group liable for the actions of a couple
people,'' said Justin Hyde, president of the Interfraternity Council,
which governs the college's fraternities.

Rosen, a senior, said his fraternity does more than party; it
sponsors annual clothing drives and holiday parties for school
children.

TKE is appealing the sanctions to the college's appeals board, Rosen said.

''I feel that there was a step that was missed,'' he said. ''There
was a very big lack of communication. Š I wish that the college would
have addressed us and let us take action.''

Although the college disciplined the individuals involved in the
reported incidents, it didn't notify the fraternity it could face
disciplinary action, Rosen said.

Kevin Mayeux, chief executive of the fraternity's national
organization, also complained.

''We at national headquarters were not aware our group was in
jeopardy until last Friday,'' he said. Although TKE loses six to
eight chapters a year, ''it's rare to ever lose a group like this
that you don't know about in advance.''

Hurd said the fraternity and the national organization, based in
Indiana, were repeatedly notified but did not act. ''They didn't come
here in a timely fashion,'' he said of the national organization.

This is the first suspension for TKE, which has had a chapter at
Muhlenberg since 1958. But an episode in 1990 gave the chapter a
black eye. Two fraternity members went on a destructive rampage at
the house, leading the city to condemn it. The house has since been
renovated.

Last year, the college suspended Delta Tau Delta for a year after a
hazing incident. In 2000, Muhlenberg suspended Alpha Tau Omega
indefinitely after a series of alcohol, drug and hazing violations.

The national organization of TKE hasn't taken disciplinary action
against the chapter, Mayeux said. He said a TKE regional member is at
Muhlenberg this week investigating the situation.

''If the allegations bear out to be true, then we concur with the
decision the college made,'' he said.

Copyright © 2003, The Morning Call

Unleashing of the lawyers time yet???? This whole incident sounds stupid as hell.

Re: Muhlenberg TKE's get 3 year suspention
 

Thank you Kevin Mayeux!

(I finally got around to reading this)

You should send a formal complaint....:p

Thats not a bad idea!

misquotes are a b1tch

Where did that come from?

this is really dumb... somehow i can't see mayeux taking his time responding... i mean he's spent i think it's at 44 of 46 of the past weekends doing TKE stuff! the guy doesn't take time for himself.

it really sucks, we keep tellin the guys the actions of a few can kill the chapter, but why not just get rid of the few?

hopefully if the chapter does have to move out the alum association can lease the house to the school for a few years till they come back, then still own the house... my home chapter's biggest mistake is outright selling the house when the chapter closed in the 80's... we owned the whole deal, land and house, sold it, now we're fighting with a house that isn't even half as good.

just doesn't make sense... if the only way you can get a girl is assulting her, then shouldn't that tell you something?

almost makes you wonder if some of the guys in the chapter knew about this and didn't say anything to anyone...

I think TKE IHQ is still looking into it. They still have their charter but are on suspention until IHQ makes it decission. IF the charges found to be un-true, or unprovable, the chapter my still exist without school recognition. TKE has quite a few chapters like that.

yea and we have a couple rogue ex chapters too... saw that thing on i think it was 20 20 a long time ago, about the same time as the california chapter that got busted for alcahol hazing a while back... some chapter lost it's charter and decided to call itself Knights of College Learning (or legend can't totally remember) but damn, those boys were doing stuff that you only hear about in multiple death situations... like the wheel of death (spin a wheel and get a bottle or two poured into a funnel down your throat, if you quit the gme before it's over, then you can't join)

makes you think that the school might be better off student wise if they keep em around to be able to at least keep an eye on what their doing...

I am not talking about ex chapters. I am talking about chapters that have their charters still with IHQ's blessing but are not recognized by the school. SDSU is an example of that.

well it just seems to me that Mayeux was misquoted, thus misquotes (note, I didn't type misquito) are a bitch

i just don't see what the big fuss (calling IHQ "nationals") is about, but maybe I would if I were from a Canadian chapter.

Ahh ok I understand now.

IHQ has kinda a big deal about it... kinda like calling a fraternity a frat, or a country a _ _ _ _... i've heard/seen a guy say that to a female cop (a sargent who started writing the ticket shortly after)

basically they don't like nationals or national or internationals from what i understand, alot of it is that we are international and leaving the inter part of it might be considered forgetting some of the expansion leaders.

so for these reasons, and probably some others (some which may be known less than the reason why we have no Eta series of chapters) may never be known... but just call them Indy, IHQ headquarters, or international.

For info on why we don't have the ETA series chapters see these threads...

http://forums.greekchat.com/gcforums...ghlight=%2AETA

http://forums.greekchat.com/gcforums...ghlight=%2AETA


The answer is pretty obvious.