Penn State IFC suspends FIJI after student death
The Associated Press
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. – Penn State’s student-run Interfraternity Council suspended a fraternity where a student was last seen before he was found dead in a campus stairwell.
Council president Luke Pierce said Wednesday the action taken Tuesday night against Phi Gamma Delta was standard procedure for a case that comes before the council’s peer review board.
The body of 18-year-old freshman Joseph Dado, of Latrobe, was found Monday in a concrete stairwell, about 75 yards from the fraternity house. He was last seen at the fraternity early the previous morning.
A coroner has ruled his death an accident, though police are still investigating whether anyone provided Dado with alcohol. The suspension is pending the police inquiry.
Also, international headquarters of Phi Gamma Delta ordered the Penn State chapter to be alcohol-free “at least until the conclusion” of the police investigation.
SEE ALSO: Fraternity Parties Suspended In Wake Of Penn State Student’s Death
Pi Beta Phi jean sale promotes literacy
Pizza and pasta weren’t the only desirable items on sale at the Kimmel Center yesterday: Students had the opportunity to purchase jeans there as well.
From 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., NYU’s Pi Beta Phi sorority held their first annual charity denim sale, at which they sold brand name and designer jeans for discount prices.
The money raised at the denim sale will benefit Pi Beta Phi’s philanthropy First Book, an organization that, in an effort to promote literacy, gives books to children in low-income families.
“We obviously think it’s a good cause,” Steinhardt junior and Pi Beta Phi member Alyssa Glykokokalos said. “People seem pretty pumped about it.”
CAS senior and Pi Beta Phi member Sara LeWinter, who had the idea for the event, said she was inspired by a similar denim sale at Syracuse University, where she previously attended college. [Image: Samantha Cook]
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Pledge recants claim of hazing
A University of Georgia fraternity pledge has recanted his claim that he felt pressured to drink to curry favor with his fraternity. “I lied about being hazed and forced to drink alcohol by Pi Kappa Alpha,” according to a letter Ry Thomas Mercado wrote to the student newspaper The Red & Black, which published the letter Tuesday.
Mercado’s denial will not stop a UGA investigation into the alleged hazing, however. “We’ll still move forward as we were, regardless of what it said in the paper,” said Eric Atkinson, assistant to the vice president for student affairs.
Members of the UGA Office of Judicial Affairs plan to meet Tuesday with fraternity officers, but have not yet been able to schedule a meeting with Mercado, Atkinson said.
Athens-Clarke police arrested the freshman from Kathleen shortly after 2 a.m. Thursday, charging him with underage drinking. Mercado, 18, told the arresting officer the fraternity made him do it.
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Fraternity of slain UNC student sanctioned
A University of North Carolina fraternity whose president was shot and killed last month by a police officer was sanctioned Monday for rules violations involving alcohol.
The Greek Judicial Board placed Delta Kappa Epsilon on social probation for the 2009-10 school year, meaning the chapter cannot hold any formals, mixers, tailgate parties or alumni events. The board also shortened the fraternity’s pledge period from eight to four weeks.
The fraternity also will be forwarded to the Standards and Review Board, which will determine whether UNC-Chapel Hill will continue to recognize the chapter.
Chancellor Holden Thorp requested an investigation into Delta Kappa Epsilon following the Aug. 23 death of fraternity president Courtland Smith.
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Kappa Kappa Gamma, Lambda Chi Alpha win GAMMA Jam
The final competition for the Greeks Advocating the Mature Management of Alcohol Jam took place Friday night on an open stage in Greektown, crowning the first-place sorority and fraternity.
Kappa Kappa Gamma won first place in the sorority category. The women of Kappa Alpha Theta took second. Alpha Phi came in third with its Michael Jackson tribute performance.
The men of Lambda Chi Alpha took top honors in the fraternity category. Tau Kappa Epsilon came in second.
Paige Flores of Chi Omega was ranked as the top in-between act by the judges. Following in second was the rapping trio from Lambda Chi Alpha. The act from Phi Mu came in third.
Other finalists from the night include Alpha Delta Phi, Chi Omega and Kappa Delta. Phi Kappa Theta and Sigma Chi qualified for finals, but did not attend. “Some of their dancers got hurt,” GAMMA Tri-Director Megan Hall said.
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Zeta Beta Tau tosses tomatoes for a good cause
“What’s a frat without tomatoes?” In Zeta Beta Tau member Ben Torchman’s opinion, “No fun, that’s what.” Lucky for Torchman, he got to experience the reality of that statement at the first Zeta Beta TomaTau.
ZBT accomplished Sunday what no other IU fraternity has: an organized tomato festival where 10,000 fruits were ordered and dumped in the field across from the ZBT house to be used in the largest-ever tomato fight at IU.
Hundreds of students came out to participate in tomato-adapted activities such as tomato volleyball, tomato Slip ’n Slide and tug-of-war over a pit of tomatoes. “I never thought I could have so much fun rolling around in tomato juice,” sophomore Molly Codner said. Codner is a member of Alpha Epsilon Phi and came to the event with other members of her sorority.
The festival was aimed to mimic La Tomatina in Spain, where tens of thousands of people flood the streets of Valencia at the end of August each year to battle with one hundred metric tons of tomatoes, according to a Spanish travel Web site.
“We wanted a remake of the Tomatina, and I think we got it,” ZBT President Matt Garden said.
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Delta Zeta declares Jell-O war
A war took place in the Sunken Garden this weekend. This one, however, was fought over pools of Jell-O.
Delta Zeta’s annual “Turtle Tug” took place Saturday with a hefty turnout estimated at 650 attendees. The event was a massive tug-of-war contest with the losing team being pulled into a pool of bright green Jell-O.
With clever team names such as The Burrito Team, Crimson Cougars, The Doheney Turtles and Cory’s Kick Ass Turtle Tugging Team, students took to their assigned pools and tried desperately to avoid falling into the kiddy pool filled with green Jell-O.
“It was amazing and intense,” said Veronica Cue, a freshman athletic training major whose team had won minutes earlier. She gave these words of advice: “Pull, scream and intimidate!”
“Never let go!” yelled her teammate Hailey Eckroth, a freshman film production major.
As the day wore on, many of the losing teams playfully threw Jell-O on their opponents. One person chased after an opposing team member, who had won earlier, catching her and dunking her into the pool of Jell-O. [Image: Kendra Breunling]
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WaterDaze raises $3,000 for charity
Ball State University students got wet and wild Saturday for charity. Theta Chi fraternity and Sigma Kappa sorority co-sponsored an event called WaterDaze to raise money for Riley Hospital for Children. Students gathered on LaFollete Field on Saturday morning to participate in various water games, including a dunk tank, inflatable obstacle course and slip-n-slide.
“I really enjoy the atmosphere and bringing the whole Greek community together to raise money for Riley,” said Ryan Elliott, a senior sports administration major.
Student organizations formed teams to compete in the water games. The first two teams from each organization had to pay $50 to participate and any subsequent teams paid $30 each. One of the games played was a water balloon toss. “I like everyone getting out and getting wet,” said Dusty Lake, a junior architect major and Sigma Kappa member.
At the end the competition, the winning teams received a plaque and gift card to several restaurants, including Scotty’s Brewhouse, Red Lobster and Amazing Joe’s. Kendall Ray, Theta Chi committee chairman, said his fraternity has sponsored WaterDaze since 1990. This year, the event raised $3,000, which is $500 more than last year, Kendall said. Participation was also up from last year, he said.
[Source: bsudailynews.com]
Phi Mu suspended by nationals due to low membership
On August 19, the Phi Mu sorority chapter closed on the Missouri Western State University campus after a decision by a certain sect of the chapter members. The sorority is the second oldest sorority in the nation and the oldest on campus (1952).
The closing process is shrouded in mystery as some members were told that the decision to close was made directly from nationals. Others comment that a meeting of a minority of the sisters voted to close the chapter.
Aimee Wilson, a recent graduate from Missouri Western, claims the closing was due to a meeting held by certain members of the organization. “The active members of the chapter that attended the meeting voted to voluntarily close,” Wilson said.
Emily Feger, Panhellenic president for Missouri Western also expressed that the decision was not unanimous in the chapter, agreeing that the decision was made at the local level. “It was a very slight majority,” Feger said.
The official statement from the national executive committee states that the decision was made at the national level. “The National Executive Committee of Phi Mu Fraternity has made the decision to suspend chapter operations of our Zeta Pi Chapter at Missouri Western State University due to a decline in chapter membership.”
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Lambda Chi Alpha Attempts to Restart Berkeley Chapter
Alumni of the Christian Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity are hoping the defunct UC Berkeley chapter can be resurrected on campus this semester.
The chapter has been closed since 2006, when membership consisted of only five remaining members who had witnessed a gradual decline in chapter activities and growth, according to Matthew Schultz, educational leadership consultant for Lambda Chi Alpha’s international headquarters.
Though the campus chapter of Phi Kappa Psi now rents the house, located at 2421 Prospect St., new members of Lambda Chi Alpha may move in as soon as next summer if the chapter is restarted.
But before the chapter can be officially reinstated on campus, alumni such as Schultz and Patrick Voldness, senior educational leadership consultant for the fraternity’s international headquarters, must recruit new students to the chapter, Schultz said. The final five brothers from 2006 had been discharged from the fraternity due to poor conduct, he said.
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