Sigma Phi Epsilon - Colorado State University

Colorado State UniverSity, Sigma Phi ePSilon CUrrent newS www.CSUSigeP.org For Alumni And Friends oF the ColorAdo GAmmA ChApter sprinG 2014 The Spear I n January, you should have received an email from Red Door House Corporation (RDHC) President, Bryan Harmsen '01, regarding the Colorado Gamma Chapter's closure. Many of you read the subsequent news articles in both the Coloradoan and Collegian. The RDHC would like to provide additional information to further address the situation and provide our plan for the future. Over the past 10 years, the Colorado Gamma Chapter has been very successful. It won numerous awards from both the national fraternity and Colorado State University. Recruitment, academics and campus leadership have all been strengths. Another key strength has been the support provided by the RDHC and the Alumni & Volunteer Corporation (AVC). The RDHC primarily deals with house ownership details and is the governing body of the Colorado Gamma alumni. The AVC deals with the undergraduate chapter on a monthly basis and reports to the RDHC. Ten years ago, the RDHC set a positive direction for the chapter. The direction and policies were aggressively implemented by the RDHC, the AVC and the undergraduate chapter. There was a great relationship between all these groups and cooperation at all times with Sigma Phi Epsilon National Headquarters. A series of alcohol-related incidents concerning individual members began two years ago and resulted in the chapter being put on social probation by CSU. University officials sat down with the undergraduate chapter leadership and reviewed campus policies. The AVC coached the chapter executive board and standards board to handle these situations proactively and worked with SigEp National on programming for alcohol and drug awareness and action plans. The major focus was changing the underlying culture of one focused on the social experience towards a more Balanced Man mentality, with sound mind and sound body. Two additional alcohol-related incidents occurred in September 2013. One involved an allegation of sexual misconduct. Fort Collins Police investigated the incident and determined the allegation "was not substantiated and no charges were filed." Despite the outcome, the allegation drew negative attention to the chapter and was the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back. The university Student Affairs Office and top administration officials became involved. The alumni boards and the National Headquarters were made aware of the incident. A disciplinary hearing was convened by the CSU Office of Student Affairs. Red Door House Corporation Addresses Colorado Gamma Chapter's Closure After we learned of the incident, the local alumni boards and national fraternity worked together on a plan to sanction the chapter: including expulsion of unfit members, chapter accountability improvements, and developing a clear communication plan between the University and alumni leadership. However, Colorado State officials looked at the chapter's behavior over the last two years and saw a pattern of alcohol abuse and ultimately decided the chapter had repeatedly violated CSU risk management policies. They ruled that this conduct was detrimental to student life at Colorado State. There was a disagreement between undergraduate groups near the end of the semester at the time of the leadership change from one undergraduate executive committee to the successor executive committee. The cause of this disagreement was based on the alcohol policy of Sigma Phi Epsilon and the university. There is zero tolerance for alcohol in the house. At this time the RDHC Board voted unanimously to close the chapter house. The next day, a letter dated December 23, 2013 arrived from Colorado State University which withdrew recognition of Sigma Phi Epsilon on the campus. This letter stated that CSU would entertain an appeal to the decision if submitted by January 7, 2014. The RDHC, AVC and national fraternity worked extremely hard over the Christmas holiday to lessen the long-term impact of the sanction and submitted a 181-page formal appeal on January 7, 2014. The submittal was a proposal for immediate corrective action, long- term improvement of chapter governance and accountability, and strengthened collaboration and communication between the university and fraternity. The appeal did not refute the findings related to CSU risk management violations. The appeal asked for a reduction in the length of the suspension and that the improvement plan would be immediately implemented. Our proposal was reviewed by the VP of student affairs, the dean of students, and the president of the university and was ultimately rejected after lengthy deliberation. This means Sigma Phi Epsilon is not a recognized student organization at CSU, and cannot participate in any campus activities, use university facilities, nor use the CSU name and brand in any way. As a result, the Sigma Phi Epsilon National Board of Directors suspended the Colorado Gamma charter by policy: non- operation chapter that is not recognized by our host universities. In due time, we will have a plan to appeal our sanctions before 2018, and we are working diligently to make that happen. Please know your support is vital. The alumni reaction over the past couple weeks has been overwhelmingly positive. Colorado Gamma alumni need to treat this as a unifying experience and not a divisive one. We need to collectively move forward toward a common vision of bringing back a Colorado Gamma Chapter that is stronger than ever. We need to communicate to CSU in positive ways that SigEp is important to us and we would like university support and engagement in re-establishing a healthy chapter. Despite the chapter's status, we will continue to host alumni events and will have a grand centennial celebration in the fall of 2015. While these events have always been important opportunities to reconnect with brothers and our SigEp heritage, they will be even more important in the next few years as we all work together to re-establish the chapter. Rules and regulations have changed at Colorado State and we cannot judge the chapter's mistakes against university and community expectations of previous eras. Members of our undergraduate chapter knew the expectations of them. They violated those expectations and rules, made mistakes, and we cannot overlook that. Alcohol abuse in the Colorado Gamma Chapter should not and cannot be tolerated moving forward.

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