Unrecognized/Underground GLOs on your campus

[tallgreekalum]

I know we've talked about unrecognized/underground chapters or former chapters,but it just raised lots of questions in my mind. I know my chapter ( UMass, ADPhi) lost school recognition but not our ADPhi charter, for three years in the late 80s-early 90s, basically, over failure to file paperwork. I am wondering these things:
Does your school have any of the following groups and who/what they are.
Former chapter of a inter/national that went local?
Chapter of an inter/national that the school has derecognized but still operates
Former chapter that the inter/national AND the school have de-recognized that have still continued to operate. Have they kept their name, a related nickname, or an unrelated name? Are they upfront about their status to rushees, etc.? How long have they been doing this? Are they successful vis a vis the rest of campus? Thanks.

[DeltaPyrite]

I go to a school with only local GLOs. We have a lot of issues with hazing and chapters often lose charters, go underground for a year or two, and re-petition for them later. In the last three years while I've been a student here, we've had:

Chi Delta Tau -put on probation for one year, no new members allowed. because of some kind of date rape drug in the punch at one of their parties.

Alpha Delta Epsilon -lost charter, not allowed to operate for 4 years. because of hazing (locked new actives in a UHaul with several bottles of hard liquor and a trash can for bodily fluids. Weren't allowed to leave until the alcohol was gone.)

TEERS- charter permanently revoked. for hazing, details have been kept secret about this because it apparently involved the extreme humiliation of several members of the new active class

[Firehouse]

The Pikes (Pi Kappa Alpha) existed unrecognized by either the school or national as "The Firemen" from 1988 through 1994. While many of them were Pikes and they followed the Pike traditions, no new members were initiated into the national fraternity either overtly or covertly. The chapter regained its charter in 2001 and today is fully recognized by both national and the school.

Phi Delta Theta was suspended/de-recognized/kicked off whatever we want to call it about the same time as the Pikes in 1988. Phi Delt national continued to support them as a chapter and they continued to operate in the open in a house right outside he main gate. After two and a half years the school recognized them again and they are in good standing today.

Zeta Beta Tau came to campus four years ago as a colony. They never applied to IFC but instead registered as a student organization. The operate in the open as a fraternity today. I'm not sure the IFC is aware that they exist (we have 40,000 students) but ZBT does maintain a website.

Sigma Alpha Epsilon got kicked off for hazing five years ago. They applied for reinstatement this year and were voted down 16-4. The stated reason was SAE national's inability to curb or eliminate "The Lion's Club". The Lions were originally the SAE Brothers who were left on campus after the chapter was lost. Eventually they recruited new pledges. Though they are not officially initiated SAEs they wear SAE letters and use the symbols.
SAE alumni feel that the fraternity has been handed a raw deal and I do no disagree. They recently informed the school that they are going to recolonize this fall without university recognition or cooperation.

Pi Kappa Phi got suspended this spring for four years (by the school and by national). The Pi Kaps were a large, strong and popular fraternity and it remains to be seen what the disbanded Brothers will do when they return to campus this fall. They lost their charter primarily due to fighting, which seemed to be their main source of recreation.

No sorority has ever operated sub-rosa at FSU.

[33girl]

Our Phi Sigma Kappa chapter is supported fully by their nationals but now unrecognized by the school because the school is full of jagoffs.

http://www.greekchat.com/gcforums/sh...ad.php?t=76996

A local fraternity, Alpha Gamma Phi, was "underground" for 20 or so years (I think they've finally died out)...the stories as to why they lost their recognition are various.

And finally, TKE at our school operated underground for years (after being kicked off for doing major damage to the Sigma Chi house as well as some Sigma Chis) but for some reason, was recently welcomed back by the school with open arms.

[RU OX Alum]

too many to list, really.

at one point, there were more underground/sub-rosa/off-campus, as they were called at Radford, but no one had a house on campus, so that was just local terms. Seriously, there are fewer of them now than when I was there, but I think there are still quite a few. New ones pop up all the time and die down. I don't understand it at all.

[TSteven]

Does your school have any of the following groups and who/what they are.

Answers as they relate to The University of Kentucky.

Former chapter of a inter/national that went local?

No. UK does not recognize local GLOs. All social fraternities/sororities recognized by UK must be part of an inter/national organization. To be clear, a local social GLO might/could exist in Lexington, Kentucky, but it would not be affiliated in any way with the University.

Chapter of an inter/national that the school has derecognized but still operates.

None that I recall. As far as I know, when UK suspended a chapter, the GLO's HQ did so as well. However, the University's "punishment" usually was to suspend or put on probation a chapter for a year or perhaps for only a semester. This meant the chapter could operate (hold meetings, ritual) but could not participate in certain Greek social activities. Such as Greek Week events, mixers, etc. They may or may not be able to hold rush. All of this depended on the severity of the situation and how the chapter and the inter/national HQ was dealing with it as well. For example, getting their GPA up, "minor" alcohol violations, no pranks. If it looked like the chapter/HQ was dealing with the situation fairly, then the University would step back and allow the GLO to handle it on their own. With the University's approval of course. To be clear, there would be some sort of University or campus probation, but the chapter would be allowed to "function" in some way during the probation.

Former chapter that the inter/national AND the school have de-recognized that have still continued to operate.

Again, none that I recall. I may be wrong, but I don't recall any chapter (fraternity or sorority) that left UK (charter pulled) for reasons other than low membership. I would venture to guess that the members continued to hang out. But I just don't know of any becoming a sub-rosa chapter.

Have they kept their name, a related nickname, or an unrelated name? Are they upfront about their status to rushees, etc.? How long have they been doing this? Are they successful vis a vis the rest of campus?

There was an interesting situation where a "top" chapter was suspended by both the University and their HQ, but did "operate" during that time. The chapter had been suspended by their HQ for a full year. I don't know the particulars with respect to their suspension by their HQ, but what was known campus wide was the following. A few members (bad apples as it were) had their membership revoked by HQ. No current members were allowed to live in their house or use it at all. They were not allowed to participate in any Greek events at all. And they were not allowed to rush new members. However, it was well known that as a group, they did meet "off campus". And they were allowed to wear their letters. Other than the few that had been expelled, the rest were "in good standing" as it were. And while they could not rush "officially" they did "recruit" guys by letting them know that if they - the potential pledges - waited a year (or in the spring semester, half a year), then once the suspension was lifted, they would be initiated into the chapter. And that is what they did. So basically once the chapter was off it's suspension, it came back as strong as it was before. And in many ways, better since they got rid of "the bad apples" as it were.

[NebraskaDelt]

Originally Posted by Firehouse

The Pikes (Pi Kappa Alpha) existed unrecognized by either the school or national as "The Firemen" from 1988 through 1994. While many of them were Pikes and they followed the Pike traditions, no new members were initiated into the national fraternity either overtly or covertly. The chapter regained its charter in 2001 and today is fully recognized by both national and the school.

Firehouse, does this mean the Firemen disbanded in 1994? I'm also curious if any of those initiated under the banner of the Firemen were ever given recognition by Pi Kappa Alpha National when the chapter regained its charter. It's an interesting story.

[Tom Earp]

Tis to funny to be true.

But of course, many times Schools want to distance them selves from Greeks on Campus.

On the other hand, The Nationals of any Greek Organization is going to look and see what the problem is.

If they are within the scope of HQ Regulations, they will back them.

LXA is not one. If the school says no, then the charter is pulled no matter what!

One that always comes to Mind is Alfred in N. Y.

A local organization caused a death and all, ALL, Greeks were banned. Period.

[Firehouse]

"Firehouse, does this mean the Firemen disbanded in 1994? I'm also curious if any of those initiated under the banner of the Firemen were ever given recognition by Pi Kappa Alpha National when the chapter regained its charter. It's an interesting story."

Its a great story, too long to reproduce here.
The Firemen and other recruits were combined into a 105-man Pike colony in the fall of 1993. In the spring of 1994, national shut down the colony - I disagreed with it, but that's for another time. Pike alumni were infuriated at national and disheartened at the prospect of losing their chapter twice. The Firemen ceased to exist that spring.

In 2000 the Pikes came back again with a 90-man colony, and installed a new chapter with 147 new brothers - a national record for us - in 2001.

One year ago, we began a campaign to locate and identify our lost boys. One wealthy alumnus paid for all the national initiation fees for all the Firemen. In April they gathered at the new house with their families, and on a rainy Saturday morning each man was initiated in turn. It was a very emotional and fulfilling experience for all of them.

[elusive47]

Originally Posted by tallgreekalum

Former chapter that the inter/national AND the school have de-recognized that have still continued to operate. Have they kept their name, a related nickname, or an unrelated name? Are they upfront about their status to rushees, etc.? How long have they been doing this? Are they successful vis a vis the rest of campus? Thanks.

This is fairly common with fraternities at SUNY Buffalo. Five Chapters of nationals do this at our school:

Delta Sigma Phi
Zeta Beta Tau
Kappa Sigma
Sigma Alpha Mu
Phi Delta Theta

These chapters are not allowed to hold any events on campus or affiliate with anyone else's events. They can't hold rush, or participate in Greek Week and similar activities. Students are cautioned against joining one of these organizations via ads in our school newspaper and flyers on the Greek Affairs bulletin Board in our Student Union. However, members of these illegal chapters still wear letters and use these organizations names, letters, coats-of-arms/shields and other public insignia despite the fact they can be sued by each organization's National Office.

[Lady Pi Phi]

For the longest time, my chapter and other groups at my school were unrecorgnized by the university, however, we were recognized by our respective organizations.

Last year, we finally were able to obtain club status for our school.

The problem for us by not being recognized by our school is that we don't have access to facilities or the right to advertise. This often posed great challenges during recruitment.

[Tom Earp]

But the main thing, is if everyone is on equal status.

If not, then there is a problem.

Many times it seems that there is a burr under the saddles of the School and get very snotty with Greeks.

There are ways around the situatins and sometimes with out school interference it may at times be better.

So, what facilities cannot you use? Is it that big of a deal?


By the way, LXA does not keep Chapters where the school will not recognize them.

[Elephant Walk]

A local organization caused a death and all, ALL, Greeks were banned. Period.

Did you see the special on CourtTV about Hazing by Al Roker? It talked about the guys death, but the ridiculous thing is...hazing didn't kill him. They tried to imply hazing but it didn't really work. The guy was an initiated member, who told other fraternities what their hazing was like, they beat him up in a car, and he gave back his pin. He understood why they did and accepted it. He killed himself on I believe pain killers and froze in the river. Now, it sucks he killed himself over fraternity, but it was not hazing.

[AGDee]

Ok, I read that article and I have the utmost respect for Dave Westol and agree with how Theta Chi handled that situation. I did however find a paragraph in that article to be very strange:

According to the university, an underage student had reported that he had been given alcohol by other members of the fraternity. The student lost consciousness and had to be taken to the hospital twice that evening, university officials said.

It's a little disturbing to me that someone who was brought in for being unconscious related to alcohol poisoning was allowed to LEAVE THE HOSPITAL that night, drank more and went back? I don't think that's a hospital that I would go to!

[Tex1899]

Delta Sigma Phi does not have a chapter at SUNY-Buffalo. We had a colony there and they were closed. It's my understanding the former colony members decided to continue operating as Delta Sigma, a local fraternity.

Seems like this is a trend at this one campus...