Underground fraternities may have a more difficult time recruiting pledge classes this year following a policy change made to the 2007-2008 version of the Rules of Student Conduct handbook. The current policy allows for individual students to be prosecuted if they join or try to recruit members for a fraternity that lost its charter.
The handbook details Binghamton University’s latest policy for dealing with students who do not comply with an organization’s suspension, threatening ‘individual disciplinary action.’ Previously, the handbook did not reference new students looking to join such organizations.
‘Basically, if you have association with that group, you could find yourself in judicial trouble,’ said Jack Causseaux, BU’s fraternity and sorority adviser. ‘The policy in the past seemed to apply more to those students who were part of that group when it lost its charter, so after a while we realized we needed to make a rule ‘ so that we didn’t see continued existence of that group.’
Causseaux said that it is within the University’s authority to forbid students to join unrecognized groups as long as they have been removed for disciplinary reasons, as BU does not prohibit students from joining other unrecognized groups like the new fraternity Theta Delta Chi.
Although the exact sanctions have not yet been defined, Judicial Affairs Director Milton Chester said that if a student has been found to have violated the policy, he or she would probably be looking at disciplinary probation if it was a first offense. Such charges could affect a student’s record.
According to Chester, the policy is not aimed at preventing certain groups from socializing, but is designed to protect students.
‘My office and the University think that fraternities, sororities and student groups are very positive things for students, and so we’re certainly not trying to hamper that or hurt that in any type of way,’ Chester said.
‘When an organization has lost their recognition or been suspended [because of] a violation of University policy,’ Chester said, ‘we’re serious when we say that you can no longer be a part of an institution.’
Both Alpha Epsilon Pi and Sigma Alpha Mu had their charters removed in 2005 and 2001, respectively, on the grounds of violations of University policy, according to Causseaux. Neither Causseaux or Chester were able to specifically identify the details of the violations.
A member of one of these underground fraternities, who declined to reveal his identity or fraternity for fear of disciplinary action, feels that the BU administration is unjustly targeting these groups.
‘It’s not the first time that something has been added to the handbook specifically dealing with us. They send a letter home to incoming freshmen not to associate with us, they pretty much do anything they can to besmirch our good name,’ said the member. ‘I think that my specific fraternity was kind of singled out and made an example of.’
According to the student, who was not a member of the organization when its charter was revoked, his fraternity was punished for ‘a violation that every other fraternity and every other sorority does.’ The violation involved party hosting, he said.
‘It’s just ridiculous ‘ we are college students, we’re all adults here now, and I don’t really feel like we still need to have a babysitter, because how else are we going to make it in the real world with someone looking over our shoulder?’ he said.
The fraternity member declined to say whether or not the organization was still active.
Despite the student’s claim that other greek organizations carry out the same practices, BU’s Interfraternity Council, a group of representatives from 14 recognized fraternities that made the recommendation for the policy, supports the University’s decision.
‘The underground fraternities hurt the integrity of recognized greek organizations because they’re not under our governance,’ said IFC and Tau Kappa Epsilon President Frank Riess. ‘So the average student may see a closed fraternity doings things that recognized greek organizations are not allowed to do and that gives us a bad label. These underground fraternities are detrimental ‘ so by campus making this rule, that’s a great thing.’