We received this email regarding an item we published a week ago. Along with it was a request to publish so to bring the matter to an end. The text is long but in the interest of full communication we did not want to abridge or alter the thoughts of those involved by editing them. We HAVE redacted identification of individuals and the chapter involved.
From all appearances the young man is remorseful and ready to accept consequences from his chapter standards board. We take this at face value and hope others may find instruction from it.
In short, if you post something on the internet, be aware that it is not either as obscure or as anonymous as you may think. We are charged to ALWAYS act so that we are proud to call each other "Brother".
This message from the Chapter president to some of his EC members notes the consequences the young man is seeing.
-----Original Message-----
From: M***@xxx.edu
Sent: Wednesday, July 27, 2005 8:10 AM
Subject: Fwd: Formal Apology
D--- and T---,
I am sending you the formal apology that I received from S--- V----- last night regarding the web-posting that he made with regard to the chapter. While the letter makes it fairly clear S--- feels terrible for what he did. Essentially what it all amounts to is that S--- is a kid who for personal reasons felt compelled to create an alter-ego type identity for himself on an internet post board. He felt that telling elaborate and often insulting and offensive lies would make him seem "cool" or "tough", while at the same time he never thought anyone, not even his close friends, would ever see them. He completely admits what he did, and he feels terrible for the shadow that he has cast on the chapter's reputation. As I asserted early on, his postings in NO WAY reflect the values of the chapter, and as he admits himself, they are elaborate lies and fantasy designed to enhance his own image. While it may seem inexcusable I can't help but feel bad. This is a young man, who like many others, suffers from personal issues and insecurities that often lead to such behavior, and after speaking with him for nearly 2 hours last night I can not fully express the extent of his desire for contrition. I would personally like to send this to the alumni list serve a little later today along with a note from me, but I figured I would send it to the two of you first. As of now S--- has been suspended from the fraternity, and a standards board meeting is being scheduled for the first week back to school. Believe me when I say that we will pursue the most severe actions in dealing with S---, and he is well aware that expulsion is a possibility he may very well have to accept. I have yet to talk to nationals but I expect to hear from them today, with the likelihood being that they will see this issue as what it is, a case of individual error and not chapter culpability or guilt in any way, and I fully expect that we will be allowed to settle the issue in house.
Regards,
M---
The original letter of apology...
----- Forwarded message from s***@xxx.edu -----
Date: Tue, 26 Jul 2005 23:09:28 -0500
From: s***@xxx.edu
Subject: Formal Apology
To: m***@xxx.edu
Dear Brother President,
I am writing this letter to accept full responsibility for what amounts to the greatest mistake I have ever made. As you are aware, I am the author of web postings that paint our chapter and its members in a very disconcerting light. These postings portray myself, our brothers, and our chapter as vandalizing, alcoholic, disrespectful, chauvinistic animals. My actions, I now realize, have put myself, our chapter, and most importantly, our brotherhood to shame. There is no way to describe how reckless and downright brainless my actions were.
I wish there was a clear explanation for what I did, but there simply is not. The reason I made those web postings at all is confusing even to me. It was a combination of misplaced values, misguided pride, and utter naivete. Those postings were written as a farcical joke, concocted as a creative outlet completely from my imagination. I wanted to impress readers on the internet with how cool I was, and how cool my fraternity was. Obviously, all I succeeded in doing was making my brothers and I look completely reprehensible. I cannot put into words the source of pride that my chapter has become for me; though my actions would seemingly indicate otherwise, all I wanted to do was get a rise out of readers and make them envious of the chapter I love (not for childish, idiotic antics, but for the strength of its bonds of brotherhood.)
Because these postings fail so miserably to show my chapter in the light that inspires my pride, I believe they clearly depict my naivete. I was naive to believe I could elicit envy with such culpable tales; in reality, all they did was misrepresent our fraternity. Likewise, I was naive to believe I could make such postings without negative consequences; in reading the words I wrote months before, I can only shake my head at their stupidity. Would anyone believe that I honestly never thought my words would be read by anyone who could be offended not as a shocked reader, but as a brother of Sigma Phi Epsilon, hearing pompous tales of condemnable activities in the name of our fraternity? I believed as I was posting that the anonymity of the internet would protect me from the lies I was telling. I learned that lesson very quickly.
I have tried to explain my actions as best I can, but at the same time, I cannot dwell on the past. I must step forth to accept the consequences for my actions, and try to set right what I have wronged. Please try to understand that I never made those postings maliciously, just naively. I never stopped to consider the damage it could do to the chapter and our brotherhood; had I understood, it goes without saying that I would never have made any postings on the internet or elsewhere. With this in mind, I have done what I could to rectify the situation. When I was first contacted about the matter, I returned your call as quickly as I could (part of my internship is watching cases and there was no way I could leave surgery to make a phone call.) After returning your call, I was planning to go straight home from the hospital in order to remove what I could from the internet; I spent most of an anxious hour at the hospital trying to find a way to leave early before I finally vomited from nerves and was told to go home.
Once I arrived at home, I immediately went to work to remove my posting and any related materials, in order to preserve what I could of the chapter's integrity. I immediately contacted the webmaster and requested he remove the subject matter in question. It is not the policy of the website to remove such content, but I implored him for some sympathy, and while it still remains to date, I am confident it will be removed or otherwise altered to be less detrimental to our chapter soon. I have spent the better part of 8 hours today working on this and have finally hit a point where all I can do is wait. Likewise, I am waiting to be contacted by Nationals in order to explain the situation and my actions to them.
I am now fully aware of my actions and their effects on this chapter and my place in it. I recognize that I have put not only myself, but 90 other brothers in jeopardy, and I can assure you that my only goal in this matter is to save the chapter as much face as possible and protect the innocent brothers that are at risk. I know that no punishment will undo the damage I have caused, but I am ready to accept whatever punishment the chapter deems fit. If I have any place to ask for mercy or forgiveness, let me ask that my misdeeds be considered along with my intentions, and that my loyalty to this chapter not be ignored due to my lack of foresight.
Regretfully,
S--- V------
