Alpha Eta
 

I'm an alumni from Gamma Chi at Oklahoma State and have always been a fan of the guys from Florida, that is a tragedy that they aren't there anymore but I hadn't heard what happened, would someone please indulge me?

It's a long story and I'm not sure I can do it justice.
It's always been a great chapter, and I think they have the most total initiates of all Pike chapters.
Their problems center on behavior and being in frequent trouble. They got suspended in 1999 for something along those lines. When they retruned a year or so later as a colony they came back exceptionally strong. But, some will tell you that the troublemakers were still around. The inappropriate behavior of a few damaged the reputation of the group. They were a large, sharp, athletic chapter but with some out-of-control members that gave Pike a bad name.
Last year after a football game, some high school girls claimed to have been drugged and given alcohol "somewhere". The school accused the Pikes and then all hell broke loose in the media; the school was embarrased and the fraternity was presumed guilty.
Subsequently, the police investigation proved that the girls had NOT been drugged or given alcohol at the Pike house. Maybe they thought they had been drugged or given alcohol "somewhere'...I don't know.
In any case, when the Pike case came up before the judiciary, the chapter was given two year's suspension, till 2009. They were accused of having alcohol at the house during a big football weekend (I am not making this up) and of hazing for making the pledges tend bar.
After the two-year suspension was issued, the dean or vice president - someone in an elevated position - held a closed door meeting for hours, without the Pikes being represented. When they emerged, the sentence had been extended till 2011. The reason: the Pikes had been "uncooperative' during the procedings. That is, they had refused to admit guilt. PiKA admitted to having alcohol at the house, and was willing to accept a reasonable penalty, but the dean or vice presidetn or whatever wanted revenge for the embarrassment to the school (for the crime that never took place). The fact that the chapter had been suspended in 1999 was also factored in.
The Pikes have subsequently filed their appeal in Federal District Court based on the University's disregard of due process.
They haven't rushed in a year, and I understand they're down to about 40 guys. Their alumni - who are excellent - met with the chapter and decided to file an appeal based on their assessment of the state of the chapter and their willingness to move ahead and make the appropriate changes to be a great PiKA chapter.
I hope I've presented the situation fairly.

This is just an example of the "Animal House" stereotype and people believe that fraternities are all bad news

Alpha Eta is a sad situation. Some other perspectives:

1. When the Chapter was reorganized around 2002 or so, previous members were allowed to affiliated. Many were still enrolled at school. Big mistake. Lesson learned here is that it is better to wait longer and start fresh than try to change a broken culture.

2. The University may have the quickest trigger finger in the country, in terms of dealing with fraternities. I've lost count of how many have been "kicked off" in the past 10 years. If we plan to do business on this campus, we're going to have to be prepared to deal with their behavior. In some circumstances, that might mean operating independently.

3. While there are tremendous Alpha Eta alumni, they are some who are significantly responsible for what has transpired in recent years. These are "know it alls" who aren't interested in input from non-Alpha Etas in the region or nationally. They've fiscally mismanaged the chapter house and have allowed property concerns to drive decisions about the chapter - a flawed strategy.

This Chapter has every resource - chapter house, alumni, school size, greek system, tradition, etc. - but somehow these knuckleheads have found a way to squander those advantages for more than a decade.