Music Greek Organization booted from campus

[Tom Earp]

Montgomery Advertiser
May 18, 2006

ASU frat yanked over hazing

By Erica Pippins
Montgomery Advertiser

A music fraternity at Alabama State University must shut down for at least seven years because it hazed its pledges.

Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia took action against the fraternity's Delta Beta chapter after determining that all 11 members paddled, punched and kicked spring pledges during initiation. Pledges also were required to consume inappropriate substances, purchase gifts and perform demeaning tasks of personal servitude, said Ryan Ripperton, the fraternity's executive director.


Message Archives:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/fraternalnews/

[blkwebman1919]

Just to clarify:

Phi Mu Alpha is not a band fraternity, it is a music fraternity. The men of PMA are not necessarily in the band, but they are musicians...

It's too bad, however, that some us continue not to learn from each other's mistakes...

[DeltAlum]

Originally posted by blkwebman1919
Just to clarify:

Phi Mu Alpha is not a band fraternity, it is a music fraternity. The men of PMA are not necessarily in the band, but they are musicians...

It's too bad, however, that some us continue not to learn from each other's mistakes...

Good clairification. We've had a number of really good PMA members on GC in the past. I hope some are still around.

Your second comment is one that a bunch of us have said many times.

Thanks.

[Cube TX]

Punching and kicking initiates? That sounds even worse than the drinking!

[Tom Earp]

Originally Posted by Cube TX

Punching and kicking initiates? That sounds even worse than the drinking!

Again, scarry isnt it?

But, if they have GLO Letters, We all with GLO Letters take the heat as the News Media do not make a distinction!

[Cube TX]

True, the average person watching the report on the news sees only the greek letters. They don't know the difference between service, academic, social or music organizations.

What a stupid thing to do. Punching and kicking initiates? Did they watch a stupid movie and decide that was how initiation should be?

[AA1038]

Originally Posted by DeltAlum

Good clairification. We've had a number of really good PMA members on GC in the past. I hope some are still around.

Your second comment is one that a bunch of us have said many times.

Thanks.

Alpha-Sigma chapter (Butler). One of the few (if not at that time only) non-music majors to be a Sinfonian. Hazing sucks...which is why I rushed Lambda Chi Alpha

[FightingScot82]

Phi Mu Alpha is a national social fraternity with musical traditions. They have 216 chapters and 12 colonies...quite a large brotherhood. It chooses to not be in the NIC.

[jon1856]

Originally Posted by Tom Earp

Montgomery Advertiser
May 18, 2006

ASU frat yanked over hazing

By Erica Pippins
Montgomery Advertiser

A music fraternity at Alabama State University must shut down for at least seven years because it hazed its pledges.

Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia took action against the fraternity's Delta Beta chapter after determining that all 11 members paddled, punched and kicked spring pledges during initiation. Pledges also were required to consume inappropriate substances, purchase gifts and perform demeaning tasks of personal servitude, said Ryan Ripperton, the fraternity's executive director.


Message Archives:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/fraternalnews/

Tom;
Next time just copy & paste header.
You can also copy and paste the first few lines as well.

You are in violation of both copywrite laws and (IIRC) free use agreements.

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by DeltAlum

Good clairification. We've had a number of really good PMA members on GC in the past. I hope some are still around.

Thanks, DA. There are some of us around still.

Originally Posted by FightingScot82

Phi Mu Alpha is a national social fraternity with musical traditions. They have 216 chapters and 12 colonies...quite a large brotherhood.

Exactly.

[slibfs14]

At most schools around the country Phi Mu Alpha in IFC and not have one of the best reputations as a fraternity. We are a social fraterntiy that is based around music. I am the President of Phi Mu Alpha at UTC and also the IFC President so I see a lot of hazing and breaking of school policies. Yeah this one incident ended up on the news because our nationals does not allow hazing at all. I know for a fact if this was done in another fraternity it most likely would have been looked over. We are a fraternity rich in history and one that will be making headway in the coming years all over the country and I do not like seeing ours thrown out like we are the only ones giving the greeks a bad name. Lets look at Lambda Chi Alpha I know here at UTC they don't have the best record. So watch what you say. We are all Greek and have to work together to give the overall Greek name a better appeal to people on the outside.


OASAASLLS

Jasn McCarty

President
Beta Alpha Chapter
Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity

President
UTC Interfraternity Council

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by slibfs14

and I do not like seeing ours thrown out like we are the only ones giving the greeks a bad name. Lets look at Lambda Chi Alpha I know here at UTC they don't have the best record. So watch what you say. We are all Greek and have to work together to give the overall Greek name a better appeal to people on the outside.

Chill, brother. (And welcome to GreekChat!)

Remember that this is a risk management forum. No one is singling Sinfonia out "like we are the only ones giving the greeks a bad name." All of the threads in this forum have to do with GLOs of all stripes and risk management problems. This particular thread just happens to be about us, and it happens to have been started by a Lambda Chi who follows these things more closely than others. I wish there weren't a thread about us either, not because I feel singled out, but because I'm sorry one of our chapters behaved as it did and made the news.

The very purpose of this forum is the recognition that, as you say, "We are all Greek and have to work together to give the overall Greek name a better appeal to people on the outside." That, and as said earlier, so that we can all learn from each other's mistakes.

[Kevin]

FYI, no national (that I know of) allows hazing.

More correctly, no insurance company allows hazing.

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by Kevin

FYI, no national (that I know of) allows hazing.

Certainly true. I imagine that what slibfs14 was referring to is that our nationals have placed a heightened emphasis on it recently, with a zero-tolerance policy coming out of our National Assembly this past summer.

[ChildoftheHorn]

Ok, so I have a lot of friends in PMA. I was in the marching band my freshman year and a large percentage of them participate in that at my school. Therefore, through those two things I kind-of know a bit about some of their secret hazing. They don't do anything physically painful, just have some brotherhood stuff where they wear all black and tour the university just after midnight. There is a little of making pledges stay up all night and things like that, which is a lot better than what some of my friends have gone through with their fraternities/sororities. I live next to a fraternity house that makes their pledges do all kinds of "special favors", they get ranked according to how they perform those tasks, and they actually do the paddling. The other one right next to me just makes their pledges do a half mile run holding cups of water. The guys organizations do physical hazing whereas the girls tend to do more mental things. The truth is that there is hazing in some manner or another. If you think about it, you even make your friends do stuff for you on occassion. As long as it does not damage the person in any way really, it is not all that bad. I am not saying it is right, it is just a fact of life for Greek organizations. I will say that my organization has not done any of that, but we are new.