SAE @ Winthrop
I go to school at Winthrop University, so I thought I would post...no comments, though.
I received this e-mail through someone who works for the university. It also made the six o'clock news in Charlotte...::sighs::
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Office of Development
Winthrop University
ROCK HILL, SC –Winthrop University has terminated registration and recognition of the Rock Hill chapter of Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity until at least 2008 after a campus inquiry determined the organization engaged in hazing during the fall 2004 semester. Sigma Alpha Epsilon International Fraternity’s Board of Directors is expected to take similar action later this month, university officials said.
"The university has zero tolerance for hazing, and we're particularly concerned with activities that may put students at risk, both physically and academically," said Dr. Frank Ardaiolo, vice president for Student Life, in explaining the action. “The parent SAE organization continues to be fully supportive of this action, and we appreciate the sense of shared commitment to high standards with which the international organization has approached these matters.”
State law defines “hazing” to include treatment “of a tyrannical, abusive, shameful, insulting, or humiliating nature,” as well as physical assaults leading to injury. Ardaiolo said the infractions leading to the chapter termination involved physical endurance tests, prolonged sleep deprivation and similar requirements being directed toward undergraduate fraternity pledges to an extent that interfered with their potential for academic success. While no student was injured during the activities, Ardaiolo noted the point of anti-hazing policies is to pre-empt harm to students, and that is why Winthrop is treating the chapter’s violations with its most serious organizational penalty. The inquiry first came about after university officials noted an unusually large number of chapter pledges were dropping out of the induction process during Fall semester.
A letter of termination was issued to local chapter officers on Dec. 21. Members who had been living in the chapter house at 718 Charlotte Avenue have been offered university housing for spring semester, which begins at Winthrop on Jan. 10.
Chapter members are banned from conducting any activities under the SAE name, wearing fraternity letters or socializing under fraternity auspices. The termination order will remain in effect until January 2008, when SAE International will be eligible to petition to register a chapter again at Winthrop University. The university may attach special conditions and restrictions to the registration at that time if it so chooses.
Ardaiolo said that the inquiry will continue once students return to campus, with members found to be responsible for violations of the university’s conduct code and/or state law subject to possible individual sanctions. That inquiry will be conducted internally by Dean of Students Bethany Marlowe and Winthrop Police Chief Frank Zebedis.
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