Acacia - Indiana University

Acacia PAGE 5 A fter being given a cease-and-desist order by IU on April 15, Indiana Chapter of Acacia was suspended for three years as of July 1, 2021. There will be no active Chapter on the IU campus until at least fall 2024. A second suspension in just nine years—and right in the middle of a major capital campaign and house renovations. There is nothing good about this. So what happened? PARTIES Two off-campus parties in violation of IU and Monroe County COVID- related policies were at the heart of the misconduct allegations. Those parties were at rental houses near Lake Monroe. Those involved thought being off campus would remove them from the restrictions (even though the restrictions were Monroe County laws at that point). IU has jurisdiction over any on-campus organization's event, regardless of where it is held. The university made it clear multiple times: any gathering of more than 15 people for any IU organization needed approval. In addition to the rental house parties, Acacia seniors living in an apartment off campus also faced consequences for an unauthorized party violating Monroe County and IU COVID policies. Acacia is on the hook whenever Acacia brothers violate laws and IU policies, even if an event takes place away from 702 E. Third St. COVID-19 RESTRICTIONS The suspension is also a result of other issues beyond just parties, however, including a challenging COVID-19 environment and failure of Chapter leadership to cooperate with IU Student Affairs. "I think you have to consider the impact [of COVID-19] on these young guys and the tough restrictions all Greek houses were under," said House Director Justin Fox '95. There is no question that COVID mattered. Consider this: in fall 2020, Acacia and almost all other houses were placed in quarantine. No one in or out for 14 days. To characterize this a little more, imagine you and other 19- and 20-year-olds living in a fraternity house at IU where you are not allowed to come and go for 14 days. No socializing, no guests, no nothing. "Just think about the stress of being in quarantine at IU Bloomington during a fall semester," Justin said. "The parties were foolish, but none of us should find it hard to understand the impulse to want to throw them." Resident Advisor Phil "Bilko" Stephens '87 agrees that pandemic conditions mattered. "The rules, such as no gatherings of more than 15 people, were tough. No more than 15 could eat in the dining room at a time. No NFL game-watching, no IU basketball parties, no pizza parties unless you had 15 or fewer people gathering." That said, IU made the rules clear and consistently warned of serious consequences for ignoring those rules. Delta Upsilon and Alpha Epsilon Pi had been shut down in the fall of 2020. Sigma Pi had voluntarily shut down in November 2020 while on a cease-and-desist, eventually getting suspended in April 2021. "It's not like there weren't warning signs that maybe big parties were a bad idea," Phil said. Every other house faced the same restrictions. "I wish COVID could be the whole story," said Michael Oakes '76, Chapter Advisor. "But that's a little too easy. Other houses were able to manage through the pandemic without getting booted off campus." DECEPTION DURING INVESTIGATIONS When placed on cease-and-desist, undergraduate leaders were asked to provide an explanation for how the parties were organized and who led this effort. They were also asked to provide lists of attendees at each party. Chapter leadership largely failed to comply; moreover, evidence surfaced that there was an intentional effort by some officers to create a false narrative about the parties. "Even in June, some of the guys were telling us that these were not Acacia parties and they didn't know who organized them," said Chapter Advisor Jeff Lindauer '89. IU had good evidence, however, that the parties were planned by Acacia, paid for by Acacia, and promoted by Acacia. "IU was upset about the blowout parties," Jeff continued, "but the flawed lists and shifting story and outright lying infuriated Student Affairs officials." Failure to comply and failure to be forthcoming also affected the negotiations between IU and Acacia HQ. Acacia Executive Director Patrick McGovern '99, who took charge of working with IU, didn't have the option of teaming up with the Venerable Dean and other officers to come to an agreement with IU Student Affairs. DO WE START THIS UP AGAIN? Yes. Jeff: "Look, a handful of guys organized some parties that were dumb ideas and got out of control. A few officers sabotaged any chance of mitigating the punishment from IU. We definitely don't want anything to do with those few guys, but Acacia Fraternity is worth salvaging at Indiana University." Justin: "Of course we do this again, painful as things are right now. We have one of the greatest houses at IU, and a lot of us are anxious to fill it with Acacia brothers." WHAT COMES NEXT? The next version of Indiana Chapter needs to be set up differently. IU is demanding things change, and two different groups of young college men in the last decade have demonstrated that something different is warranted. "Much great work went into the effort to revive the Chapter in 2015," Michael said. "The group that rewrote the constitution and started up recruiting did great things. "But the Chapter model was basically the same as in the past: 19- and 20-year-olds were put in charge of what grew to a 190-man fraternity, and the result was a slice of William Golding's Lord of the Flies. To prevent that from happening again, we need a new model." IABC board members will meet soon to start the process. That includes time to research best practices and engage various stakeholders, including Acacia alumni and IU officials. Alumni are always welcome to provide input—or, better, to participate in the restart process. Look for updates via the alumni Facebook page, the website (indianaacacia.org), or email blasts. THE SUSPENSION: WHAT HAPPENED?

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