UT frats start implementing changes as result of butt-chugging incident

From the Article:

“The need was there, obviously, to try to work toward a change in the culture, but that was the one event that brought attention to it more than any other,” said Kelly Williams, chapter adviser for Sigma Phi Epsilon.“There’s been a concerted effort, especially here in the last several months, to work with the university to implement the recommendations in the task force, but also to impact the culture among the students at the university.

“It’s the actions of a few individuals that ultimately not only reflected negatively on the (Pi Kappa Alpha) fraternity, but also the greek system and the university as a whole,” he added.

UT frats start implementing changes as result of butt-chugging incident » Knoxville News Sentinel:

Ex-Va Tech frat house will be home for innovators

VA Tech gets creative with the former SigEp House.

Ex-Va Tech frat house will be home for innovators - Richmond Times Dispatch: Technology:

 BY JACOB DEMMITT The Roanoke Times

THE ROANOKE TIMES

This fall, the former Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity house at
Virginia Tech will become the Innovate living-learning
community, which will include three dozen students.

BLACKSBURG Virginia Tech is inviting a group of young entrepreneurs to live in the new $5.1 million house that was left empty when the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity was kicked off campus in May for bad behavior.

The announced plan sounds like the plot to a new reality TV show: Fill a mansion with innovators, give them some guidance, and then watch startups roll out the front door.

The so-called Innovate living-learning community is accepting applications as it looks for 35 male and female freshmen from any major. Applicants need only have an “entrepreneurial spirit.” The university has 16 similar programs for groups ranging from female engineers to volunteers, but this will be the only one stationed in a former fraternity house.

University officials were excited to talk about the new program as they danced around the touchy subject of the previous tenant. But Nathan Latka, an entrepreneur involved with the program, probably wasn’t the only one who saw the irony of the situation. He laughed at the thought of the new tenants sitting around the same table where party themes used to be hatched. The only difference, he said, is that this time, they hope to create million-dollar startups.

Latka knows how productive this kind of space can be. The 23-year-old worked out of a Virginia Tech dorm room when he was one of the founders of Heyo, a startup that designs social media campaigns for companies such as Lilly Pulitzer. Heyo is now a multimillion-dollar operation with 16 employees. But Latka said it all started with Red Bull-fueled brainstorming sessions with classmates in Tech’s Barringer Hall.

He says new ideas require “random collisions.”

The house “has got all the amenities built in,” Latka said. “It allows random ideation to happen at any moment. It increases the chances that two freshmen who would have never known each other from two disciplines to really collide and engage and ideate.”

VA Kappa SigEp Chapter Closed - New House to be Used as Dormitory

The SigEp Chapter at VA Tech apparently built their brand new $5 million house so the university can use it as a dormitory. The members of the Chapter were informed Tuesday afternoon of the chapter closing.

Here is the link to the story from the student paper:
Sig Ep fraternity loses charter, new house - CollegiateTimes.com:

The following quote from a letter to HQ staff  gives an overview :

All,

Later this afternoon, we will announce the closure of the Virginia Kappa Chapter at Virginia Tech.

As many of you are aware, this comes after months and years of effort on  the part of the staff, alumni-volunteers, and Virginia Tech to address significant behavioral issues and general under-performance among the members.
[...]
We're all looking forward to re-colonizing a great chapter at VT in the upcoming years.

So there you have it. In the last few years a number of outwardly successful chapters have been closed. The reasons for closing have been varied. However, inability to change from a culture of high-risk behavior and non-existent or non-enforced standards to a culture of mutual support and accountability are high on the list of reasons. And it is not just about the undergraduates. Alumni who are resistant to change cannot shield a bad chapter from scrutiny. 

We look forward to a new, improved chapter at VA Tech in a few years.

UT (Tennessee) report: Put directors in frat houses

After the notorious "butt-chugging" incident made the UT fraternity system fodder for the late-night comedians, the university put together a task force to find ways to improve. They released their report a few days ago.

One "solution" sounds like mandating "Housemothers/fathers" or RAs for the fraternity houses. I wonder how that would work? Having a "political officer" who reports to the administration leaves a bad taste in my mouth. However, the idea of posting academic performance and ranking online, plus philanthropy activity AND chapter violations may have some merit. A time honored management principle is "you get what you measure". Keeping track of those types of metrics, and perhaps using them as a basis for a prestigious award, could be a powerful incentive. We all know how well that works for intramural sports and Homecoming activities.
What do you think? Is this a workable plan? here is a link to the University of Tennessee press release - you can get to the full report from there.

UT report: Put directors in frat houses | timesfreepress.com:

KNOXVILLE — A committee at the University of Tennessee has proposed remedies for rowdiness that made the campus the subject of late-night TV comedy.

The Knoxville News Sentinel reported the committee’s recommendations include full-time directors living in fraternity houses, amnesty for drunken students and their friends when seeking medical help and the online posting of sanctions against fraternities and sororities.

“Alcohol, for this age group, is and will continue to be our biggest issue. It is the root of most of our crimes,” said UT Police Chief Troy Lane. “There obviously was an issue that made us all kind of decide enough is enough. But we’re really not dealing with anything that any other college isn't dealing with.”

The 11-page report released Thursday comes nearly six months after a Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity member was brought to UT Hospital dangerously drunk. Police reports blamed the incident on a wine enema, which garnered national attention. That chapter and, later, the Phi Gamma Delta chapter have shut down at UT.

The 25-member task force was formed to find solutions to poor behavior among fraternities. Members include the UT police chief, students, alumni, faculty and staff. The chairman is local attorney Thomas Hale. The group met about every other week to form its recommendations.

The group found that 14 fraternities were sanctioned 30 times in the last five years, tallying 68 violations that include alcohol abuse, physical abuse, hazing and nudity.

Some of the task force recommendations are immediately moving forward, including expanding the university’s Greek recognition system. In addition to online listing of fraternities’ and sororities’ cumulative grade point averages and philanthropy work, the information will now include chapter violations.

Jeff Cathey, associate dean of students, said the university expects at least some fraternities to move quickly to add live-in advisers.

Also among the task force recommendations is the adoption of new educational programs for fraternities and sororities on hazing, managing risk, substance abuse and the code of conduct. The group also wants to review how effective and consistent campus rule enforcement is.

'via Blog this'

Right to Wear Greek Letters Vindicated at UT Arlington

The SigEp Chapter at UT Arlington was put "under investigation", and was told they could not even wear their letters. After a student rights organization (FIRE) began asking embarrassing questions about the legality of such a ruling the college backed down. (BTW - the chapter was cleared of the original allegations).

Right to Wear Greek Letters Vindicated at UT Arlington - The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education - FIRE

by Peter Bonilla

Recently, FIRE intervened at the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA) after the Sigma Phi Epsilon (SigEp) fraternity brought to our attention what I suspect is an all-too-common punishment against fraternities and sororities: the prohibition on displaying their letters in any way while the chapter was under investigation. After FIRE brought this issue to UTA's attention, the university promised that students and student organizations at UTA enjoy the full freedoms of the First Amendment. 

Here's the background on the chain of events resulting in this unconstitutional punishment for SigEp, as we wrote in a letter to UTA President James D. Spaniolo on September 13: 

Following an off-campus party held February 4, 2012, which resulted in allegations of "hazing," UTA's Sigma Phi Epsilon ("SigEp") chapter was notified in a February 10 letter from SigEp national Chapter Services Director Josh Hodnichak that it was to "immediately cease any and all chapter activities." These activities included "new member activities, Inter-Fraternity Council events, intramural games, social events, chapter meetings, and all other chapter activities." SigEp complied with these orders. SigEp President Troy Maikowski received a similar letter, also dated February 10,from Heather L. Snow, then director of UTA's Office of Student Conduct, ordering the fraternity to "cease and desist all activity" while under investigation. Snow's letter, however, went so far as to ban "wearing of letters on campus." Snow's letter also made clear that the order covered "both on and off campus activities and include[d] formal and informal group gatherings," and warned that "[a]ny further activity that represents the Texas Chapter of Sigma Phi Epsilon either on or off campus during the suspension period may result in additional disciplinary action being taken."

[Link and emphases added.]