Best of Busted!

10 CU Delta Chi Pledges Arrested After Motel Rooms Damaged

“Boulder’s Delta Chi Fraternity has been placed on suspension after 10 pledges were arrested over the weekend in Estes Park on suspicion of causing up to $10,000 in damage to two Super 8 Motel rooms. Estes Park police were called to the motel about 2:30 am Sunday and found large holes in the walls of two connected rooms, blood and vomit everywhere, destroyed furniture and a coffee pot filled with urine, according to a police report. Officers said that all the University of Colorado students were underage and suspected to have been drinking alcohol. There were arrested on suspicion of felony criminal mischief and underage drinking...Officers said they collected cell-phone cameras that the suspected vandals used to capture pictures and video of the trashed rooms.”

This is the second issue in a row that Busted has featured significant damage to a hotel room by fraternity men. Coincidentally, both incidents have occurred in the state of Colorado. What is going on in Colorado? Is trashing a hotel room a strange rite of passage for young men, or is someone pumping stupid into the water? Seriously folks, why is this ok?

Later damage estimates list the damage at $20,000. A quote from the hotel manager that states some of the students have expressed their remorse and that their parents are willing to pay the costs of the damage. Yes, your eyes did not deceive you, some, if not all of the parents are willing to pay for the damage that their sons did to this motel. What’s up with parents? These guys should be grounded! While this Busted goes out to the students involved, unfortunately, their parents must be included in this because of their willingness to pay for the damage.

As for those cell phones that were confiscated by the police, it seems that they may have had some photos of the damage. They are not attached to anyone’s Facebook profile, but instead, they are right next to the mug shots of 9 of these 10 new members. You can find them online without too much effort. We did.

References
Miller, V. (2008, February 20). Delta Chi could have to re-recruit after arrests. The Daily Camera. Retrieved March 5, 2008 from: http://www.dailycamera.com/news/2008/feb/20/starting-over-delta-chi-could-have-to-re-recruit/

Miller V. (2008, February 19). 10 Delta Chi Pledges Arrested in Estes Park. Retrieved March 5, 2008 from: http://www.dailycamera.com/news/2008/feb/19/cu-news-10-frat-pledges-arrested-in-estes/

(20, February, 2008). Destroyed motel room leads to frat pledges arrest. Retrieved March 5, 2008 from: http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/15342950/detail.html

Success Requires Support

This post is a guest blog post from Chad Pfister. Thanks Chad! We are always looking for guest bloggers. If you are interested, send a sample blog to tricia@aflv.org.

When I am thinking about examples to use for successful teams for organizations to model themselves after two teams come to mind, Manchester United and US Postal Service Cycling Team. These two teams are perfect at demonstrating how distinct individuals each with their own unique talents can come together for a common good. Even better is the fact that both teams include the stars of their respective sport but without the daily support of their teammates their greatness was almost unachievable. In fact, Lance Armstrong never could have won seven Tour de Frances without the support and effort that his teammates put in for him.

All too often in our organizations we forget about this basic premise that our leaders and stars need our support on a daily basis. Instead we tend to support our leaders at the beginning of their journey and then at some point along the way we make the determination that they are doing a good enough job and that they do not need our full attention and support anymore.

How wrong that assertion is. Regardless of how good of a job you might think a particular leader is doing, there is always room for improvement and improvement can only happen when the entire team is on the same page supporting their leader and each other.

Imagine what would happen if after the 3rd stage of the Tour de France Lance's team stopped helping him or if the Ryan Giggs or Paul Scholes decided after 15 minutes that they didn't need to pass the ball to Wayne Rooney anymore. As a fan you would be livid and screaming at the television for everyone to work together. But how come when we see this same sort of situation in our own organizations we sit by the wayside. When we see this going on we should be standing up and pointing out the lack of teamwork, so as to not fail our organization and our fellow members and leaders.

We all join organizations for a reason and that normally is because we want to be part of something bigger that believes in the same ideals as our own. So each time we fail to support our leaders and stars of our organizations we fail our organization and ourselves. The only way that an organization can truly have success is for the members to support one another in everything that they do.

Best of Busted!

UNL Suspends Sigma Chi Fraternity for 4 Years

Sigma Chi fraternity, facing a pair of lawsuits and charges of repeated hazing in the last academic year, has been suspended from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln campus for four years.

But given the troubles plaguing Sigma Chi - two lawsuits alleging hazing, a police search that uncovered large quantities of alcohol in the fraternity house and hazing or alcohol charges against nine of its members - strict punishment is warranted, [the vice chancellor] said.

[The vice chancellor] said he hopes to send two messages with the suspension: "One, the university is very serious about the potential violations and will not tolerate them. And two, that we really do have a strong Greek system. The vast majority of our chapters are very, very good."

[The vice chancellor] said university leaders considered a wide range of punishments for Sigma Chi - including expulsion - but ultimately decided to give the fraternity another chance.

Plus, he said, not all fraternity members were violating university policies… "Unfortunately, a few ruined it for all."

UNL police began investigating Sigma Chi earlier this year after a former pledge came forward and claimed he had been subjected to repeated hazing from fall 2008 to early 2009.

The pledge said he had been verbally assaulted, paddled, forced to drink alcoholic concoctions until he vomited and made to participate in humiliating activities with other pledges, such as one in which they leap-frogged each other through the fraternity house while being pelted with ice and wet paper towels.

The pledge also alleged he had been sexually assaulted by a female stripper during an off-campus party. [Although] sexual assault charges won't be filed in the case.

In a search of the house in March, UNL police uncovered evidence to support hazing allegations as well as a large amount of alcohol, even though UNL is a dry campus.

The search led to hazing and procuring charges against nine Sigma Chi members. Six of them have been convicted; the others are working their way through the court system.

Now, a group of local fraternity alumni have stepped forward to help the fraternity get back on the right track. They will serve in an informal capacity, providing guidance, advice and support as needed.

Trust us, we are just as annoyed as you are. This is the same old story. When will people learn? When will people realize that leap-frogging while being pelted with ice cubes is hazing? And, if we may be so blunt, it’s silly and preposterous. We know that people tend to do stupid things when others are also doing them, but we were thinking more along the lines of wearing knit ponchos or legwarmers.

While this may seem obvious to most reasonable people, the article indicates that this suspension means Sigma Chi will not be recognized and no one will be allowed to live or hold activities in the fraternity house. UNL’s vice chancellor for student affairs said that the sanctions are the toughest imposed on a UNL fraternity in recent memory. We agree, it’s a tough one… but… it’s not so tough that it can’t be reversed. The suspension could be lifted after two years if the fraternity's Alumni Board successfully crafts a plan to ensure compliance with UNL's Student Code of Conduct and regular house inspections. We call shenanigans on this: so, what you’re saying is that crafting a plan to comply with the Code of Conduct (a.k.a DOING WHAT YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO DO) can get a hazing chapter off the hook?

Also, why do people feel as though they need to say things like ‘a few bad apples ruined it for the whole bunch’? This is obvious, and what happens all of the time; it’s part of being affiliated with a group. As far as we’re concerned a person should not affiliate with a group that has strict behavior guidelines if they don’t think they’re able to adhere to them… on the flip side, we shouldn’t invite members to join our organizations (or allow them to remain affiliated) if they’re going to act like jerks. Pointing out that ‘not all Sigma Chi’s are hazers’ is nice and all… but everyone already knows that. Plus, validating the fact that most Sigma Chi’s aren’t hazing jerks doesn’t fix the fact that this one in particular happens to be one.

Top 10 Party Schools

At the beginning of this week, the Princeton Review released their annual list of the top "Party Schools" in the nation. After doing a little bit of digging, I learned that "Major Frat and Sorority Scene" is one of the top qualifiers for this prestigious designation. Hmm.

Let's look at the list of schools:

1. University of Georgia

2. Ohio University

3. Pennsylvania State University

4. West Virginia University

5. University of Mississippi

6. University of Texas

7. University of Florida

8. University of California

9. University of Iowa

10. DePauw University

Do the fraternity/sorority systems on these campuses help to promote the party school image, or are they actively working against said image? Do we care? As a larger community, what does it say when our "scene" is one of the major factors in the Princeton Review's rankings? What if the top 10 party schools were schools without any fraternities or sororities on campus? What if?

What if the Princeton Review started ranking campuses with the best fraternity and sorority systems? My definition of best, by the way, would be values in action, high academic standards, service to the community, and making the world a better place. What if? What if those rankings also included the 10 worst campuses when it comes to a thriving and active fraternity/sorority system? What if?

What are your thoughts? I'd love to see your comments below, or on our Facebook Fan Page.

Hazing: Double Standard?

This is a guest blog post from Travis Smith, Associate Director of Student Activities at Colorado School of Mines. Thanks to Travis for sharing his thoughts with us this week! If you are interested in sharing a guest blog post, contact tricia@aflv.org.

This post started in my head this weekend as I finally sat down to watch the last few episodes of Deadliest Catch in which they were paying tribute to Captain Phil Harris who passed away of a stroke while filming the show. During one of the three amazing and emotional shows they dedicated to him, one of the other captains made an analogy that stood out to me. In referencing the “greenhorns,” or first year crew, earning respect and their place on the boat as a “full share guy,” he claimed that the whole crew has to go through something together in order to earn each other’s trust, respect, and eventual friendship. I took particular note because he did not say that the 1st year guys needed to perform menial and meaningless tasks in order to earn respect; they had to prove themselves alongside their peers on the boat, rather than to them. Some of the toughest men in the world, doing one of the deadliest jobs in the world do not find the need to haze new members of their crew. The new members simply learn every aspect of the boat and work hard to earn their place as “full share.”

This week, a story on the news caught my ear and frankly pissed me off a little. Dez Bryant used to make me sick with all of his arrogance and ego but I found myself proud of him yesterday for the most astonishing reason. Maybe it was bravado, maybe it was Dez being Dez, but he stood up and refused to let a senior member of the Dallas Cowboys team (Roy Williams) haze him. "I'm not doing it," Bryant said. "I feel like I was drafted to play football, not carry another player's pads." How does carrying another player’s pads make Dez a better football player or even a better teammate if it is not for sincere reasons?

What really made me feel a little sick was the reaction of many of the reporters to this story. Herm Edwards said “just go along with it, get it over with.” Mike Golic said too many idiotic things to count in his two minute tirade this morning on “Mike and Mike in the Morning,” defending the hazing that occurs in the NFL. Reporters are calling it a right of passage and titles like “Dez says no to (innocent) hazing,” and “Dez Bryant refuses chores of a lowly rookie” make Dez out to be the bad guy for doing the right thing.

Of course the right thing seems to be in debate in the American public if you look at popular opinion polls on ESPN.com. At the time of writing this (after my vote of course) the ESPN polls stood at 64% for, and 36% against on the question of “Should Dez Bryant have carried Roy Williams’ shoulder pads?” What I found fascinating was that with the exception of Arizona (76% for), Alabama (66% for), and New Mexico (65% for) every state south of the Mason-Dixon line was under the average. In fact only 3 states were anti-hazing in the poll, Wyoming with 3 of 4 respondents against, Vermont (2 of 3), and Delaware (2 of 3).

"Everybody has to go through it," Williams said. "I had to go through it. No matter if you're a No. 1 pick or the 7,000th pick, you've still got to do something when you're a rookie. I carried pads. I paid for dinners. I paid for lunches. I did everything I was supposed to do, because I didn't want to be that guy." In fashion typical of hazer logic, Dez’s refusal to participate in a meaningless “tradition” may lead the hazing to become more severe as Williams threatened to take things to “step two,” possibly stealing his credit cards and wracking up charges, or as some have suggested, duct taping him to a pole. Sounds like the kind of behavior I want my kids to see portrayed by their idols.

Let’s re-imagine this story to include the modern college fraternity/sorority. A new member (aka pledge) refuses to get his/her head shaved, and carry books across campus for an older “established” member. The next day that student is found duct taped to a pole on campus. The story gets out and who looks like the bad guy in this scenario: the fraternity/sorority of course. I wonder what those online polls would show had the story had been flipped in this way. I always thought that celebrities and athletes were supposed to be held to a higher standard than other people. Popular culture and the media continue to glamorize hazing in sports but condemn it in Fraternity/Sorority life. What makes this double standard exist?

Luckily, thanks to Facebook posts and conversations that have popped up like wildfire, I know that I am far from unique in my thought processes. Though polls may not show it I know that there are a lot of people out there that are fighting the good fight, from students to senior level administrators on college campuses, professional organizations and groups like http://www.hazingprevention.org/ that exist to bring this issue to a close. Keep fighting the good fight Dez!

Best of Busted!

URI Phi Kappa Psi expelled on drug, destruction violations

A fraternity has been ejected from the University of Rhode Island under a “three strikes and you’re out” policy following a December raid in which a 20-year-old student was charged with a felony count of drug dealing.

The Phi Kappa Psi fraternity is banished for 18 months and cannot reoccupy its chapter house for four years, said URI’s vice president for student affairs.

University police, assisted by South Kingstown officers, entered the house with a search warrant at 4 a.m. December 5. The police said they found a locked safe in a closet.

The police pried open the safe, the report said, after [the student] refused to disclose the combination. Inside, they found 100 grams of marijuana, miscellaneous pills, two scales, a 16-gigabyte iPod, $130 in cash and what they described as a drug ledger.

In November the fraternity was found in violation of URI policies on substance abuse and destruction of property, which included holes punched in the walls, furniture destroyed and glass bottles smashed in the shower and bathroom.

The president of the Interfraternity Council at URI said the action was appropriate. “The events that took place at the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity house … stand against the values and beliefs shared by the Greek community,” he said.

For those who are screaming “Personal use!” or are thinking, “100 grams?! Come on, that doesn’t seem like that much, give the guy a break!”, let us break it down for you: 100 grams is about 3.5 ounces. In case you didn’t know, an ounce of weed is about enough to fill a plastic sandwich bag and costs between $300-$400 depending on where you are, who you know, and how ‘good’ the weed is. Also, in case you didn’t know, most recreational marijuana smokers buy weed by the eighth of an ounce. This means that this guy had enough pot to sell to 28 people. So, the article doesn’t say this, but we can do the math: this guy had between $1050 and $1400 worth of marijuana in his safe. Either way you look at it, that’s a lot of pot, even if you’re that guy from Pineapple Express.

Okay, we get the fact that lots of (dare we say most?) people have smoked pot once or twice… even our current President has admitted to it. So, although there isn’t as much of a stigma around recreational marijuana use as there used to be, you still can’t sell it… especially out of your fraternity house! We realize that college is expensive, but there are lots of other ways to make some extra cash.

In addition to the fact that selling marijuana is illegal, we still have our fraternity values hiding behind the door… (Oh! Here they are! Silly old values, always sneaking up on us!) According to the Phi Kappa Psi website, one part of the fraternity’s mission states this:

“The Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity is an association of men of integrity who strive to develop the individual in his intellect, in his involvement in the community, and in his faith.”

The fraternity’s vision includes the following language:

“The Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity is committed to bettering individuals in order to improve society. To that end, we strive to provide undergraduate members with the opportunity to get as much out of their campus experience as possible, while working within their chapters to effect change in their communities.”

We’re just not sure that selling marijuana is in alignment with developing intellect and involvement in the community nor does such a habit or pastime allow this one member to be effecting positive change in his community. We’ve heard it all before: “Why are Greeks held to a higher standard?” Hello, other non-affiliated students on campus do not take a vow to uphold values like ‘effecting positive change’, ‘intellect’, and ‘integrity’. So, if you want to be in the weed selling biz, don’t join a fraternity.

Where does the time go?

If you are anything like me, you are perhaps wondering how it is already the middle of July, and what happened to the months of May and June. Summer always seems to move quickly, and this year is certainly no exception. For many of us, we have just four or five weeks until we return to campus for move-in, orientation, recruitment, and the launch of the fall semester. What are you going to do in these last few weeks to prepare for the fall? What is left on your to-do list to tackle before you head back to campus?

* Summer Reading - did you read something new and different this summer? Stretch your brain? How can you apply what you read to your chapter or council? Have you shared your thoughts about what you read with others or do you plan to discuss it with your peers?

* Summer Conferences/Leadership Events - did you have the opportunity to attend your organization's National Convention, or a leadership training event or program? If so, what did you learn? How are you going to communciate that information to your peers without overwhelming them with your excitement? How are you going to use what you learned to make positive change? What is your plan for following up and assessing your change?

* Recruitment Preparation - have you used your down time this summer to prepare yourself and your organization for success this fall? Have you changed any of your recruitment strategies? How so? What do you need to do the next few weeks to be fully ready?

* Organizational Preparation - how have you prepared for the fall semester? What will you do differently in the coming year? How will you welcome your members back to campus? What are your priorities for the first few weeks of the new semester? How have you communicated any changes with your members?

* Peer Accountability - how are you holding each other accountable for tasks you agreed to complete over the summer months? Are you checking in with each other? What happens if someone does not keep up their end of the bargain? Are you prepared to adjust or step in as needed?

* Personal time - have you taken some time to relax and re-charge this summer? Refresh yourself and your outlook, and prepare for the year ahead? Everyone deserves a mental break, even if it is just for a few days. It will make you a stronger leader. Have you taken care of yourself?

The beginning of a new academic year is one of my favorite times on campus. Everyone is fresh and excited about the new opportunties available. Do some thinking now about your preparation for that time, and also make sure you're taking care of yourself so that you are refreshed! We look forward to seeing what will be accomplished in your chapters and councils in the coming year.