Having heard about, participated and survived many a blackball session, I'd like to assure your relative that he may have done absolutely nothing to deserve the treatment he received.
At a very minimum, your relative should be entitled to know in detail exactly why he was kicked out after completing his pledging. He should not accept any "this is secret" BS. He does hold some cards here.
It's kind of embarrassing to admit knowing a lot about blackball sessions. But more times than not, it's the big brother's fault a pledge gets blackballed. There can be a lot of score settling in those sessions. For example, Joe pledged XYZ. Joe's big brother, Jake, decides to blackball Hal's little brother. So Hal blackball's Joe to settle the score with Jake. Very typical - Joe was out of XYZ. This actually happened to a friend of mine.
The big brother didn't look out for him, protect him or warn him - like he should. I could go on, but you get the picture.
Also, your relative has very little to lose by contacting the national fraternity. His friends in that fraternity failed to come through for him when he needed them the most. He needs new friends.
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