Consequences...

[DeltAlum]

What happens if you don't follow the rules?

FRATERNITY COULD BE SUSPENDED FOR ALCOHOL ABUSE, VILOATIONS...

-The Ohio University Post, 3-30-2001

Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity is facing charges stemming from a pledge event, during which pledges and big brothers allegedly drank excessive amounts of alcohol in the fraternity house, said Judy Piercy, director of the Ohio University Office of Judiciaries.

Piercy determined the incident at the chapter house on Feb. 28 to March 1 was not hazing.

Pi Kappa Alpha, commonly called Pike, allegedly violated two sections of OU's Student Code of Conduct - A-17, aiding and abetting in alcohol use, and B-7, which prohibits alcohol in common areas of fraternity houses, Piercy said.

OUPD referred the incident to judiciaries and to Athens Municipal Court, according to court records.

In judiciaries, nine pledges and six initiates - the big brothers - faced charges, Piercy said.

Eight of the nine pledges admitted to the charges, including A-6, mental or bodily harm to self, and B-7, she said. The pledges who confessed each received disciplinary probation, varying from one quarter to one academic year.

The six big brothers' judiciaries hearings start today, Piercy said. They face A-17 charges.

Also today, Pi Kappa Alpha, which included 85 men Fall Quarter, must decide whether to accept an administrative hearing. Judiciaries would provide a five-person hearing board to hear the charges.

Pi Kappa Alpha President David Miller could not be reached for comment.

The Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity national organization will send a representative to Athens next week to investigate, said Eric Wulf, National Executive Director of Pi Kappa Alpha. National officials will consider the OU chapter's punishment when OU issues a decision.

"Many things could come into play as consequences because of this incident such as expulsion or suspension," Wulf said.

OU officials blocked Pi Kappa Alpha on Wednesday from participating in Greek Week because the organization might be suspended when Greek Week arrives, said Julie McDermott, tri-chairwoman for the week.

Scott Copley, OU Assistant Director of Student Activities for fraternity and sorority affairs declined comment.

The chapter members ranked third academically of OU's 17 fraternities with a 3.049 grade point average Fall Quarter, according to Office of Student Activities reports.

Judiciarcies also will hear an appeal today from Phi Gamme Delta, or FIJI, which is charged with violating the Greek alcohol policy on Dads' Weekend, Feb. 23 to 25.

In addition, Sigma Alpha Epsilon Fraternity received two quarters probation, which will last through Spring Quarter, for violating the Greek alcohol policy during Homecoming Weekend 2000, Piercy said.


Personal note: Whether the rules are fair or not (or the law, for that matter), they are the rules. If you choose to break them, there may be consequences.

DeltAlum

[Billy Optimist]

What can be done to change unfair rules?

[33girl]

Originally posted by Billy Optimist:
What can be done to change unfair rules?

Damn good question, Billy. First off, if you think something is unfair don't just blindly follow it without question because "it is the rule". Do something to change it!! If everyone had just said "these are the rules and we have to follow them forever" women would still not have the vote or the right to birth control, and there would still be segregated lunch counters and water fountains.

If you think a policy in your Greek organization is unfair, see what other chapters think about it. If there are a lot of other chapters on your side, UNITE and lobby your nationals for change.

The same applies to unfair rules at your college. If all the Greeks are against deferred rush or other requirements, UNITE and present your well-thought out plan to the college as to why you think the rule should be changed.

Do you think some of the laws in your college town are anti-student? Register to vote there and UNITE other students to do the same. Most students are in town enough months of the year to fulfill residency requirements.

If you are against this or that law, make sure your voting record reflects that. Are you against the Federal Highway Funding Act (aka if your state's drinking age isn't 21, you get no federal funds)? Find out if the candidates for House and Senate in your area are in favor of repealing it. If not, they don't get your vote. And it doesn't hurt to UNITE a bunch of people and tell the candidates why they aren't going to get your vote.

Margaret Sanger got her butt thrown in jail numerous times for breaking the law, and I for one am glad that she did. She saw something that she thought was unfair and wrong and worked to change it. I'm not comparing the gravity of the situations, but rather the principle. If you really think something is wrong, have the guts to say so and keep saying so. Don't just back down.

"When you make your peace with authority, you become authority." - Jim Morrison



[This message has been edited by 33girl (edited March 30, 2001).]

[DeltAlum]

33Girl is right. If you don't agree with a rule or law, do whatever you can to get it changed. My generation (the 60's) did a fair amount of that. However, laws and rules can't simply be ignored.

Now, it also occurred to me that two things should be pointed out about what may seem like very conservative policies of the OU administration.

First, Ohio University was 10th on the list of the best "party schools" in the US -- a distinction that no university administration would cherish.

Second, two years ago, a freshman (not a Greek) got totally hammered at a couple of parties, got lost and apparantely walked into the Hocking River and drowned.

That's enough to make you a little on the conservative side. The point is, though, that when people or groups break the rules, they have to expect to suffer the consequences.

By the way, Ohio was one of the very last states to change its' drinking age to 21, and it did it before the Federal Highway Act 33girl mentioned. The fact is that pretty much every state had made the change on their own before the Federal mandate.



[This message has been edited by DeltAlum (edited March 30, 2001).]

[Theta-cutie]

DeltAlum,

if you read Newbie's post titled "48 Hours," in the Greek Life Forum, the PIKE incident sounds a lot like what will be covered on TV on Tuesday ...I'm of course not positive if it is indeed OU's PKA chapter or not, but it sounds suspiciously so!

[IowaHawkeye]

something similar happened to the Pi Kappa Alpha chapter here at Iowa....

Publication: Daily Iowan
Publication Date: 11/13/00
Page and Section: 1 A


By Natasha Lambropoulos/The Daily Iowan

The Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity, 1032 N. Dubuque St., lost its UI recognition earlier this month for alleged violations of school alcohol-distribution policies during the Greek system's formal recruitment week in August.

While no longer considered a UI student group, Pi Kappa Alpha members still have to wait for word from the chapter's national headquarters to find out what will become of the fraternity and its privately owned house.

"When a chapter loses university recognition, that chapter loses its university housing benefits as well," said UI junior Jason Goslin, the Interfraternity Council president. "The national organization owns the house, and it is up to it to determine whether the members can continue to live in the house."

However, it is very seldom that Greek chapters who lose university recognition are approved to continue their charters, he said.

The charter is the official recognition of a fraternity by its national chapter. Pi Kappa Alpha International Fraternity representatives would not comment on the matter Sunday.

Phillip Jones, the UI vice president for Student Services, decided to revoke the fraternity's UI recognition for serving alcohol to prospective members in the chapter house, said Tom Baker, the UI assistant dean of students. He would not comment on how the UI became aware of the alleged misconduct.

Under UI recruitment policies, recognized student organizations may not serve alcohol to perspective members, Baker said. UI policies also state that alcohol is prohibited from all fraternities at the UI unless it is in the room of a member who is 21 or older and all others present in the room are 21 or older. Many students going through formal recruitment are incoming freshmen at the UI.

Allegations of alcohol disbursement to prospective members were placed against the fraternity in early September, Baker said. During various meetings with Jones and Baker, the executive members of the chapter "never disputed" the allegations against them, Baker said.

While the members of Pi Kappa Alpha did not directly admit to the UI's accusations, the UI finally determined alcohol was distributed because members did not profess their innocence in the matter, Baker said.

The situation was further investigated by Jones, which led to his decision in de-recognizing the chapter.

Jones was out of town and unavailable for comment.

With the loss of UI recognition, Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity will no longer be able to participate in UI-related events or use UI facilities.

Unless it regains recognition, the fraternity cannot engage in events with other Greek chapters on campus, such as Homecoming, Greek Week and fall recruitment, Baker said.

The fraternity may appeal Jones' decision to UI President Mary Sue Coleman. There is no deadline for appealing, he said.

"As far as I know, my office has not been notified of an appeal, although it goes to the president's office first," Baker said.

The fraternity's chapter president, Dale McCaw, was unavailable for comment. Other fraternity members refused to comment.

[DeltAlum]

Damn. Wouldn't it be a lot less damaging to simply follow the rules and the law? I don't know about where the rest of you guys are, but where I am, serving alcohol at rush function is among the biggest no-no's. A good chapter doesn't need alcohol to recruit quality members.

Note one important thing in the post above that I and a couple others have mentioned in different threads, though.

The President wasn't available for comment, and other members of the Chapter declined to speak.

That's good. Only the Chapter Advisor or other Fraternity official should comment to the media. And in their absence, the President of the Chapter.

That does not mean a curt, "No Comment," but rather a polite explaination that it is the Chapter or Fraternity policy that only those people have enough information to make a statement.

That is a very common thing, and although good reporters will try to push for comments from others, in the end, they will respect the policy if you stand firm.

DeltAlum

[33girl]

Originally posted by DeltAlum:
First, Ohio University was 10th on the list of the best "party schools" in the US -- a distinction that no university administration would cherish.

Yeah, once your school gets named "Best Party School" be prepared for the LCB to be really anal every weekend for a year or so.

The best thing to do when the Princeton Report comes around is say "Man, there is no social life at this campus whatsoever except for the annual sheep shearing contest!" (even if you're lying through your teeth) Every school I've had contact with that's gotten named best party school has really cracked down on policies and said up and down to the media "this is just not true!" Of course, if they got named most academically superior, THAT would be 100% gospel...

[DeltAlum]

The OU Pike Chapter has been suspended by the University for one year and then will serve a year on probation.

No word yet on any action by their National.

[DeltAlum]

On the other hand...

From the Ohio University Post...

"When news circulated in January that Phi Kappa Sigma had decided to end its reign on campus because of money issues, the fraternity's alumni and Ohio University officials stepped in to save the chapter.

The Chapter voted to disband at the beginning of Winter Quarter because of its international organization's increased insuranace charges, which members could not pay.

Phi Kappa Sigma's international organization was sued by the partents of a University of Texas student who died of alcohol poisoning. The international chapter paid the parents $2 million, accoding to August, 2000 Associated Press information.

But OU's Office of Student Activities worked with the fraternity's international organization to keep the chapter on campus, said Scott Copley, OU associate director for fraternities and sororities affairs."

The story goes on, but two things struck me. First, apparantely OU is not as anti-Greek as the above would seem to indicate.

The second is that once again, although it sounds like a broken record, we've got to do something about alcohol abuse problems within the Greek System -- or it will not survive.

How many $2 million awards can your National afford? Especially since it is nearly impossible for a fraternity to get liability insurance.

Substance free housing, as distasteful as it may be, is probably inevitible.

DeltAlum

[shadokat]

DeltAlum--

I can't speak for fraternities, but MANY national sororities could not survive even ONE of these lawsuits. So if you're not in a national with 200 active chapters, look for alcohol-free housing, anti-hazing, and any other "insurance friendly" initiatives to come your way, if they haven't already.

The initiatives aren't in place to stop you from having fun and enjoying your time in college. So many actives say that they think their national is trying to enact prohibition. That is just not the case. As annoying as third party vendors are, the national is trying to make the chapters follow the law, which is people under 21 don't drink, and those over 21 are served by people who are trained professionals, thusly reducing the liability for them if someone gets too drunk.

What I don't understand is, isn't anyone within the chapter looking out for their own brothers or sisters? We ALWAYS have sober sisters who not only don't drink, but carry a pager where they can be contacted in case of emergency or if someone needs a ride home, etc. I really hope that we can look out for each other, because this is a scary proposition to mess with.

*stepping off soapbox*

In the words of 33girl, thank you drive though.

[LexiKD]

I agree 100% with Shadokat!
Why get all excited over drinking rules and regulations. These ideas were put into effect long ago and now it is actually becoming important to follow them. The NPC
resolution doen's matter to my sorority beacuse our policy has said the exact thing for years, so why, if we were following your national policy, this would be a big deal?

Who cares that you can't drink at a Fraternity house, go somewhere else, the houses cannot be the only place to find drinks!

If anyone is upset about the under 21 LAW, sorry about it, we have no control over it. If you want to drink and your under, don't go to your organization's function! GO to a non sorority sponsored party.

I know this may sound mean, but really think about it...maybe all these stories of drunk members killed by their brothers or sisters beacuse they drank themselves to death would stop if someone stood up and said that their chapter/organization is more important than a bunch on underage members having a great time for a few hours. Maybe if we all were held accountable, not just the president and the members invloved than we wouldn't be so quick to say: if we don't like it change it. Anyone who is against any of the new rules...have you had a member die on your campus in a drinking situation?

[DeltAlum]

Thank you for the comments.

I was ready to believe that Ohio U. was turning anti-Greek and that the University was "out to get" fraternities after reading the first post here. Then, they turn around and support the Skulls.

Do you suppose the reason is that, in the first case, the rules and the law were clearly broken? And, in the second case, the group was in good standing? I just read that there are 20 fraternities (13% of male undergrads) and 13 sororities (15% of women) on this campus of just under 20,000 students. That doesn't sound terribily anti-Greek to me.

It wasn't the OU Chapter's fault that the National was having problems. It was the actions of the Texas Chapter that almost killed the one in Ohio.

One of the single largest benefactors of this particular university is a now deceased Delt Alum. His family is still a huge contributor. I know other fraternity and sorority alumni are also big supporters.

The University knows that. But outrageous behavior will back anyone into a corner and make them come out fighting.

That's why I get so damned frustrated when I hear all of these "I" and "we" messages talking about hazing and drinking being OK as long as they're confined to the security and secrecy of "our" chapter. That's just not true. When one chapter gets busted, it is a problem for the entire fraternity -- and in the long run, for the entire Greek System.

And it's not that hard to follow the rules.

It's interesting that one of the chapters that I'm Division Vice President for went dry this year -- and had the best Fall rush and then the best Spring rush in the history of the chapter.

As I've said so many times in so many threads, the future of the Greek System hangs in the ballance here.

So many brothers and sisters have said that the Nationals are run by a bunch of old guys who had their fun and now don't want this generation to be able to. My experience certainly doesn't support that. I know personally the men who run our National, and they (we) struggle with these issues.

It's a matter of pure survival.

I don't know about the Skulls, but a number of fraternities can't get insurance anymore and have formed a coalition to self insure themselves. They aren't insurance companies with other types of policies and incomes and will never have anywhere close to as much money. A couple of situations like the one in Texas and that fund and the organizations supporting it will be bankrupt.

And, of course, there's the law. Hazing and underage drinking are illegal. I don't understand why that concept is so tough. Like it or not, fair or not -- the law is the law. Period.

Is anyone listening out there?

[33girl]

Originally posted by ecukd:
Why get all excited over drinking rules and regulations. These ideas were put into effect long ago and now it is actually becoming important to follow them. The NPC
resolution doen's matter to my sorority beacuse our policy has said the exact thing for years, so why, if we were following your national policy, this would be a big deal?

Not everyone's policy has always been this strict. I know that many nationals just used to say that the "state and local laws" must be followed. If you were of age, you could drink at a mixer all you wanted.

If anyone is upset about the under 21 LAW, sorry about it, we have no control over it. If you want to drink and your under, don't go to your organization's function! GO to a non sorority sponsored party.

Please read my above post as far as "having no control." As far as going to a non-sponsored party, that almost sounds like you're saying "we'll just go to some independent's house so he suffers the consequences and our sorority's in the clear." Besides, some of the nationals are saying that if there are as few as 2 or 3 sisters at ANY party, it's considered a sorority function.

[WittenbergLCA18]

Originally posted by 33girl:
Please read my above post as far as "having no control." As far as going to a non-sponsored party, that almost sounds like you're saying "we'll just go to some independent's house so he suffers the consequences and our sorority's in the clear." Besides, some of the nationals are saying that if there are as few as 2 or 3 sisters at ANY party, it's considered a sorority function.

You're exactly right. Courts across the country have found that any function with 25% of the chapter attending can be considered an official function, thus subject to all of the state/national laws. Some nationals have even gone so far to say that 3-4 members constitutes a function. This means you can't elimiate liability by holding it at a non-members residence.



[This message has been edited by WittenbergLCA18 (edited April 07, 2001).]