Sigma Nu-Lafayette: banned for 3 yrs.
 

(It seems like this campus only has one form of discipline for GLOs)

Sigma Nu becomes third fraternity banned at ULL this school year
By PATRICK COURREGES
pcourreges@theadvocate.com
Acadiana bureau
LAFAYETTE -- The University of Louisiana at Lafayette has shut down the campus chapter of the Sigma Nu fraternity until 2008 -- making it the third fraternity banned from campus this school year.

The announcement of the suspension of the fraternity came Friday after weeks of investigation into an alleged mid-December hazing incident.

ULL spokeswoman Julie Simon-Dronet said Friday that investigators concluded that hazing incidents occurred at the fraternity, and that students also were continually violating university policies meant to safeguard against hazing.

One of the rules broken dealt with restrictions on the serving of alcohol, she said.

"We have a policy that you have to get request advance permission when you're going to serve alcohol at a function," Dronet said.

She said that, in several cases, the Sigma Nu chapter allegedly served alcohol at functions without permission.

Investigators also alleged that the fraternity broke rules prohibiting having guests or functions at fraternity houses between midnight and 7 a.m. any day of the week, Dronet said.

"That policy was violated repeatedly, we've learned," she said.

Dronet said officials with the national Sigma Nu fraternity conducted their own investigation, working cooperatively with the university.

The national Sigma Nu office suggested the three-year ban, and the university concurred with the national office's findings and suggested corrective action, Dronet said.

She said that the sort of allegation that came before investigators were "not the norm for Sigma Nu" on ULL's campus.

"Sigma Nu does not have a history of that," Dronet said. "Sigma Nu was founded on anti-hazing."

The mid-December 2004 allegations of hazing at Sigma Nu came within days of the early December announcement that the ULL chapter of Phi Kappa Theta was to be shut down for a year.

The investigation of the November Phi Kappa Theta incident showed pledges had been asked by fraternity members to "exercise" in the early morning hours, and one of the pledges suffered an asthma attack.

In March 2004, ULL banned the Sigma Alpha Epsilon chapter for two years, after investigation of a 2003 allegation that pledges had been hosed down with water and deprived of sleep.

Dronet said none of the 37 active Sigma Nu members nor the 12 pledges were living in the fraternity house.

She said the fraternity will have to apply for reinstatement at the end of its suspension.

apparently there is work to be done on that campus. it sounds like the same song different organization.

Re: Sigma Nu-Lafayette: banned for 3 yrs.
 

Well, since the article says that Sigma Nu national suggested the ban, I'm not positive that it's entirely a case of the school having "one form of discipline." Admittedly, though, I have no inside knowledge of the workings of ULL or Sigma Nu.

Semi-off-topic here, but I seem to remember a lot of pretty recent discussion of hazing on other Louisiana campuses, not just ULL. LSU comes to mind, but I don't think it's just those two. Is there something about Louisiana culture that emphasizes hazing? Or is it just part of what we seem to see all too often around the country?

Re: Re: Sigma Nu-Lafayette: banned for 3 yrs.
 

Re: Re: Re: Sigma Nu-Lafayette: banned for 3 yrs.
 

Of course it happens other places. Just look at California state - Chico for a very recent example. I didn't mean to imply that it's not a nationwide problem. I do apologize if what I posted seemed "anti-Louisiana."

I just need reassuring. I am struggling with my position in Greek Affairs right now. In some ways I feel like they are on a witch hunt right now and I am caught in the middle.

Hang in there. I'm sure you are doing a great job.

By the way, when you said "...they are on a witch hunt..." do you mean the administration?

YES! How do you get rid of 3 fraternities in one year otherwise. We only had 7 on fraternity row. Now we have 4 until PKT and SAE are allowed to come back next spring. The sororities are having fits. Socials are practically unheard of with all of the restrictions placed on the fratenities now. The boys are scared to breathe wrong.

The banned fraternities are not without fault. They had done some major things wrong--not just what got reported. But the administration makes it sound like the world is ending and unless they save the fraternities from themselves then all is lost.

I have to go back to work tomorrow and don't know how to deal with the deans (we have been off for Mardi Gras) My husband told me to get over it-we are both alumni and don't have to deal with it anymore. But I feel an obligation to stand up for these guys. I would have hated for my college experience to have been like that.

It seems that everytime a College has a Burning or Ban as it were of Greeks, others pick up on it and get hard assed.

But here again lays The Resonsability of the Greeks to conform to the College Rules and Regulatins. When they dont, then The Adm. feels like they are getting their noses rubbed in it and are losing control.

If Greek Life is smooth, all is Cool. If not, The Shit Hits The Fan and All Suffer!

Damn, I want to be a Greek Life Advisor on a College Campus so bad!:)

I swear, I am Not A Dean Wormer Type of Guy!:D

Sure you aren't;)

Rick Barnes, a Farmhouse alumnus, spoke at our Alpha Gam Leadership Conference in Pittsburgh this weekend. He was an excellent speaker and had some great points. One of the best points was this:

We would be able to throw out all of our risk management manuals if we would only follow two rules:
1) Don't allow people under the age of 21 to drink
2) Don't get drunk

The first is the law, not something that GLOs came up with to make their members miserable. He actually came of legal age 3 times, because the law was changing in Texas when he was at that age, so he was legal at age 18 for 3 months, then legal at age 19 for 3 months, then turned legal again at age 21. I imagine that was pretty frustrating! But, his point was, whether you agree with the law or not, it is the law and we have to follow it until it changes.

The second is also essential. He went through the 5 stages of drinking: 1) drink a little bit 2) start to feel warning signs (off balance, blurred vision, slurred speech, etc) 3) throwing up 4) passing out 5) death

If everybody stopped drinking at stage 2 and nobody served minors, we would not be having any problems with administration, police or law suits.


There can also be no hazing.

He is a great speaker and I highly recommend him! He also talks about why greeks are held to a higher standard and how we portray ourselves to others.

Dee

It's really very simple. However, it seems we like to complicate things.