U. of Maryland: Chapter De-Recognized (Beta Theta Pi)

[UMD Beta Alum]

MartytheMoose (and Kevin)

Interesting points! Seems you have some inside info, Were you an active Beta member? Some of the comments you make are new to me. Alumni heard a different story to some points.

Yes, sounds like the University and Greek Life hung you out to dry in regards to housing. Telling you in June or July and having less then 2 months, is hard.

There have been other postings on this website that seem to imply the Beta General Fraternity (HQ) does seem to want older chapters to adopt their new policies. So maybe HQ didn't have your back.

But the pledge driving back drunk supposedly happened in Fall 2005 (chapter closed in Summer 2006). What about the fights?

Yeah, it does seem as though Beta was the top dog, and jealousy turned other fraternities to turn in, or complain about Beta to the Greek Life whenever they could.Additionally, the Beta chapter begun to develop a less then stellar reputation in regards to their socials, hazing, and risk management..

So, yes maybe there was alot of gossip, jealous groups complaining, and no criminal charges.... But there is an old saying "Where's there's smoke, there fire".

Beta may not have been total outright criminals, but I doubt they were choirboys either... Not saying fraternity guys should be.

But it does seem as though the University had enough complaints and decided to use Beta as an example to everyone else. Unfortunately, there is no "due process" or the same legal rights as a some may think. Especially, when the house is owned by the University.

Unforetunately, in this time of lawsuits, groups have to be extra careful. Times have changed and Universities don't take crap anymore. They drop the axe fairly quickly these days, and don't wait for someone to pass out and die from alcohol poisoning.

As for alumni, well this past weekend - October 19-21, 2007, Beta celebrated what would have been its 25th Anniversary at Maryland. Over 200 alumni came back for a "formal" event Friday night, with an awesome tailgate before the 8pm game.

Martythemoose wrote:
"Members of the now defunct Beta Theta Pi feel that their strong brotherhood amongst each other and with the alumni of the chapter (who still came to every football tailgate, brotherhood event, and graduation dinner) has been ignored and feel that its a travesty that this bond will not continue on for the younger generations. There are graduates from the mid-1980s who would still come to hang out and talk Beta with the current brothers."

Not one of the guys who were active members in 2006 when the chapter closed were present. So, the statement that the alumni from the `80's are involved is not true. Alumni have no interaction with any members from the defunct chapter.

The University and Beta General are going to wait for those guys to graduate and start a new group most likely.

[violetpretty]

Originally Posted by UMD Beta Alum

Unforetunately, in this time of lawsuits, groups have to be extra careful. Times have changed and Universities don't take crap anymore. They drop the axe fairly quickly these days, and don't wait for someone to pass out and die from alcohol poisoning.

That's a good thing, right?

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by UMD Beta Alum

MartytheMoose (and Kevin)

Interesting points! Seems you have some inside info, Were you an active Beta member?

Seeing as how MartytheMoose only ever posted on GC twice, and both those posts were on the same day over a year ago, I doubt he's still around to answer any questions.

[Beta UMD alum]

Originally Posted by MysticCat

Seeing as how MartytheMoose only ever posted on GC twice, and both those posts were on the same day over a year ago, I doubt he's still around to answer any questions.

I just stumbled upon this website and after reading this thread, feel inclined to make a quick post to clarify some things.

I was an active in Beta during the time period we were removed from campus. With that being said, I can speak with first-hand knowledge about the events leading to our removal from the University of Maryland.

Based on the posts made by "MartytheMoose" I would say that he was in some way involved with our house, as his information is completely accurate. I wholly agree with each and every one of his statements made in this thread.

At the close of the year just prior to the summer that Beta was removed from campus we were on good standing with both the university and general fraternity. There were no restrictions or new incidents that could have resulted in any type of punitive action. The ONLY issue that the Executive Board was aware of was small financial liabilities that would have been easily rectified without issue.

I understand the perspective of Delta Omega Alums, as there has been a serious gap in communication both during and after our removal. For whatever reason, the stories that I have heard from older alums simply do not completely match up with what happened.


In my opinion the incidents of that summer were despicable on a number of levels, two of which stick out in my mind.
1. The office of Greek life punished a group of good young men simply to flex their muscles to the remaining houses. In doing this they stripped students of their housing and let the house run vacant for over a year.
2. Our chapter was consciously thrown under the bus by the general fraternity based on what I feel were likely based on selfish intentions.
The general fraternity should have been the group that went to bat for us and simply put, they didn’t

[Beta UMD alum]

Originally Posted by UMD Beta Alum

MartytheMoose (and Kevin)

Interesting points! Seems you have some inside info, Were you an active Beta member? Some of the comments you make are new to me. Alumni heard a different story to some points.

Yes, sounds like the University and Greek Life hung you out to dry in regards to housing. Telling you in June or July and having less then 2 months, is hard.

There have been other postings on this website that seem to imply the Beta General Fraternity (HQ) does seem to want older chapters to adopt their new policies. So maybe HQ didn't have your back.

But the pledge driving back drunk supposedly happened in Fall 2005 (chapter closed in Summer 2006). What about the fights?

Yeah, it does seem as though Beta was the top dog, and jealousy turned other fraternities to turn in, or complain about Beta to the Greek Life whenever they could.Additionally, the Beta chapter begun to develop a less then stellar reputation in regards to their socials, hazing, and risk management..

So, yes maybe there was alot of gossip, jealous groups complaining, and no criminal charges.... But there is an old saying "Where's there's smoke, there fire".

Beta may not have been total outright criminals, but I doubt they were choirboys either... Not saying fraternity guys should be.

But it does seem as though the University had enough complaints and decided to use Beta as an example to everyone else. Unfortunately, there is no "due process" or the same legal rights as a some may think. Especially, when the house is owned by the University.

Unforetunately, in this time of lawsuits, groups have to be extra careful. Times have changed and Universities don't take crap anymore. They drop the axe fairly quickly these days, and don't wait for someone to pass out and die from alcohol poisoning.

As for alumni, well this past weekend - October 19-21, 2007, Beta celebrated what would have been its 25th Anniversary at Maryland. Over 200 alumni came back for a "formal" event Friday night, with an awesome tailgate before the 8pm game.

Martythemoose wrote:
"Members of the now defunct Beta Theta Pi feel that their strong brotherhood amongst each other and with the alumni of the chapter (who still came to every football tailgate, brotherhood event, and graduation dinner) has been ignored and feel that its a travesty that this bond will not continue on for the younger generations. There are graduates from the mid-1980s who would still come to hang out and talk Beta with the current brothers."

Not one of the guys who were active members in 2006 when the chapter closed were present. So, the statement that the alumni from the `80's are involved is not true. Alumni have no interaction with any members from the defunct chapter.

The University and Beta General are going to wait for those guys to graduate and start a new group most likely.

I just want to respond briefly to the statement about the lack of people at the alumni tailgate...

The simple explanation to why there were no members from the 2006 class is because we were not invited. I found out about this tailgate from a brother who saw it listed as an activity on the website. Active brothers were never told about it, despite the fact that the email list-serve was and is still active to this day.