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I wonder whatever happened to any of this, I found yet another article online about it
Lenoxxx
National chapter threatens suit
January 25th 2002
By Jenni Rowles
Assistant to the Editor
The national organization of a former Susquehanna fraternity said it will seek legal action against any student who claims to be a part of its group.
The Susquehanna chapter of Lambda Chi Alpha was shut down in 1993 but has continued to operate as an underground chapter, Eric Richards, risk manager for the national fraternity, said.
The national organization plans to send a cease to exist order from its attorney to stop the group from acting as if it is a legitimate chapter of the fraternity, Richards said.
If the men involved in the underground chapter fail to cooperate with the national organization's request, Richards said the attorney will sue the underground chapter.
Richards said that the illegitimate chapter has kept ritual equipment, continued to facilitate the ritual of the fraternity and has continued to recruit new members to join the chapter.
"Members of the underground chapter have also continued to wear the Greek letters, Lambda Chi Alpha, on clothing or have worn similar or off-breed versions of the letters," Richards said.
Richards also said that the fraternity has not followed protocol and has used the letters on fliers, publications and other forms of media.
"The biggest thing is for the group to stop acting as a group, to stop facilitating ritual and to stop using our name," Richards said.
Dean of Student Life Dorothy Anderson said that since 1993 the national organization has been drawn into two lawsuits involving Susquehanna students and has had to pay for legal assistance to be removed from the suits.
"One of the cases that the national was involved in took place in 1995 and wasn't resolved until two years ago," she said.
Richards said that nation-wide, there are less than three organizations that are operating in the same manner as Susquehanna's underground chapter.
The national organization became aware of the chapter through correspondence from Susquehanna and other Lambda Chi Alpha chapters in the area who witnessed fraternity activity, Richards said.
Anderson said, "We have not asked them [national] anything recently, but we keep national informed about incidents involving students who claim to be Lambda Chi Alphas."
"It was fairly well known that the chapter has been like that for some time," Richards said.
According to Richards, Susquehanna has been cooperative with the national organization.
"A university can't do much about a chapter such as this [because of] the right to free association," Richards said. "The university legally cannot stop men from joining this group."
Richards said that the national organization doesn't close a lot of chapters and when it does, it implements an aggressive expansion policy.
Susquehanna's chapter of Lambda Chi Alpha lost its charter in 1993 following a "long-standing, consistent violation of fraternity risk management policies," Richards said.
"We're talking about things such as alcohol and hazing violations," Richards said.
"We try to come back in three to five years to re-start fresh [when the people who caused the problems are gone]," Richards said.
Anderson said that this group of men is not a recognized group on campus, and is not allowed to participate in Greek Week, Homecoming and Inter Fraternity Council events.
Richards said the solution for the group of men involved in the underground chapter is to consider starting a new fraternity on campus. He stressed that Lambda Chi Alpha will not be re-installed at Susquehanna.
Anderson said: "The upperclassmen lie [to the new members]. They believe that they are members of Lambda Chi Alpha but they are not."
"No current student will ever be a member of the Lambda Chi Alpha," Anderson emphasized.
"Prior to the university withdrawing recognition and the nation withdrawing the charter, Lambda went through a period of six to eight years where the fraternity struggled with issues," Anderson added.
"It [when we withdrew recognition] was not abrupt, rather it was very involved and elaborate. The decision was not arrived at without serious conversation," Anderson said.
Susquehanna has since implemented a Greek review system, which helps university officials decide whether or not a chapter should receive recognition.
"Lambda was a strong chapter at one point," Anderson said. "It had 100 to 110 members and was quite healthy."
"Some of the men are delightful, but some of them believe the only way to solve problems is to fight. If they leave S.U. thinking that is correct, then we didn't do our job," Anderson said.
"My concern is for the health and well being of all Susquehanna students, so this inappropriate behavior has to stop," Anderson said.
Nationally, Lambda Chi Alpha has 207 chapters and has more than 227,000 initiated members. According to the fraternity's national Web site, it was the first fraternity to eliminate the pledging process.
Although students with ties to the underground chapter were contacted, they failed to comment on the issue.
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