UVA Gives The Boot To Pike And Sigma Nu, Removing Two Of The Nation’s Most Historic Chapters
It seems Greek life administrators compete with each other in a similar way that fraternities do. While fraternities compete with each other regarding women and athletics, the administrators compete to see who can destroy the biggest and most prestigious chapters on their respective campuses. If there was such a competition, the Greek life administrators at the University of Virginia would blow away the competition–it would be comparable to watching an early 2000s Tiger Woods compete against a 6-year-old girl at the Masters. Just not fair.
UVA’s administrators have a bit of an advantage over their competition, though, as the school is home to two of the oldest and most esteemed chapters of two huge national fraternities. Pi Kappa Alpha’s Alpha chapter was founded at UVA in 1868. Sigma Nu quickly followed, establishing its Beta chapter at the university in 1871. Sadly, both got the boot last week by some pissed off university administrators.
While UVA did not provide any details on the incidents that caused the expulsions, a spokesperson cited “new member education” as the downfall of both chapters. In other words, a few brothers’ hazing boners were fully torqued and things went a little too far. Unfortunately, both chapters had to pay the price.
From The Daily Progress:
University spokesman McGregor McCance did not elaborate on the allegations.
“The decision to terminate the Fraternal Organization Agreement is not one that the university arrived at quickly,” read both announcements. “The university remains committed to providing a vibrant and thriving fraternity and sorority community that offers undergraduate students an impactful, values-based fraternal experience.”
In an effort to not be complete jerks about the situation, UVA’s administrators will allow the residents of both fraternities’ houses to live in them until the end of the semester.
While Sigma Nu pled the fifth, Pike (or PiKA, as it’s known at UVA) plans to appeal the ruling. Should the rulings stand, the earliest the university will consider applications from either fraternity to return to campus is May 1, 2016.
[via The Daily Progress]
Image via Virginia IFC
UVA is going to quickly regret letting them stay in the houses.
11 years ago at 10:00 amNot if they have any bit of respect for their own house
11 years ago at 10:22 amFuck outta here geed
11 years ago at 11:51 amWe all know the “pussification of America” is omnipresent. It is now sweeping across college campuses and destroying tradition that all of us have been a part of. I have never been so scared for the future of college fraternities until reading this article, however. For this reason:
“The university remains committed to providing a vibrant and thriving fraternity and sorority community that offers undergraduate students an impactful, values-based fraternal experience.”
Jesus Fucking Christ. The UNIVERSITY is now providing the greek community? Is now providing undergraduates with a value-based experience? Did they really just say “vibrant”?
Ask any one of your current fraternity members what the experience is like. None of them will tell you it is “vibrant”. NONE! This scares the shit out of me. Did any of you have to attend orientation at your university before starting freshman year, and see a bunch of GDI orientation leaders do a choreographed dance number? It was probably the gayest and most embarrassing thing you’d ever seen. Unfortunately I had to watch one of these take place. Although I was only 18 years old…and the orientation leaders were in their 20s…and I had not formally affiliated with any particular fraternity, merely attending rush parties, etc…I still knew that the people I was watching didn’t have a clue what was “cool”. Oh, they were trying. They were trying their damnedest. They were hitting around beach balls and singing and using spirit fingers to try and dazzle everyone. But it was fucking GAY!
Walk into a fraternity house as a rushee and you have a chance at experiencing what its really all about. Assuming you don’t look like a douche and get dismissed immediately…someone will introduce you as a rushee and you will get tossed a cold beer. You will plop down on the couch next to a bunch of guys who are absolutely “cool”. You will talk about fucking girls. About skipping class. About doing drugs. ABOUT BEING A FUCKING COLLEGE FRATERNITY MEMBER! I know I am preaching to the choir here so I don’t need to also mention philanthropy, networking, internship and job opportunities, endless social benefits, etc. There are extremely wholesome parts to being greek. My point is the university has no idea how to provide the fraternal experience that everyone seeks.
Walk into “x” fraternity house. There will be guys wearing boat shoes. There will be guys with backwards baseball hats on. There will be a guy with a beer in his hand. This applies to almost every house on campus. At their core, each of these houses are very different, though. They have different founders. Different traditions. Each and every one has something unique to offer. Its a beautiful thing.
to think that a university could apply a “one size fits all” fix to this supposed problem makes my stomach turn. Sure college football is great. College chicks are hot. Universities aren’t all bad. But would you have had the same experience in college if you scrapped the greek experience altogether? To wrap this up I will reiterate my main point: UVA feels it has the responsibility to provide the fraternal experience that 18 yr old kids across the country are wanting. This is so wrong. Fail Friday exists for a reason. Fraternity members actually try to be cool, and even they miss the mark sometimes. I would not pledge a fraternity if it were run by the same dorks that sang and danced like fruits during my freshman orientation. Goddamnit…fraternities as we know them really are a thing of the past.
11 years ago at 12:00 amNever trust a motherfucker with a name like “McGregor McCance”
11 years ago at 10:02 am“University spokesperson McGregor McCance”
This guy sounds like a total dipstick
11 years ago at 10:04 amNext comes UVA going private…you heard it here first
11 years ago at 10:11 amThis is terribly sad and an overall sign that the administration at UVA has been taken over by tyrants. The story behind PIKA in particular is a load of bullshit. From what I’ve heard, the administration called in the pledges one at a time and they were told to tell the dean everything that they’d done for pledging. If they didn’t, they would be kicked out for an honor violation. Later it was found that they’d simply had to eat an onion…
Sigma Nu’s story is a little different. One of the pledges (no doubt a pussy) had to go to the hospital because “a tendon had entered his bloodstream and went to his kidney” because he had done too many push ups or something. Then, he proceeded to rat out sigma nu and spill the beans about their pledging process to UVA’s administration, resulting in their revoked charter.
And so the pussification of America continues…Enjoy Greek life while you can, it may not be here much longer.
11 years ago at 10:17 amThe worst thing is that they got screwed for doing shit that literally every house does. I guarantee you even ZBT has made a pledge do a pushup and eat an onion at some point.
11 years ago at 10:25 amThe Sig Nu instance sounds eerily similar to how Phineas died in A Separate Peace.
11 years ago at 11:30 amI thought bone marrow entered his blood stream and killed him?
11 years ago at 1:21 pmWhat book were you reading?
11 years ago at 4:24 pmfrat swag, fuck your name and yourself, then google the word “similar.”
11 years ago at 6:07 pmFrattyFuck23, you clearly didn’t read the book. Now, quit trying so hard.
How is dying in surgery “eerily similar”?
11 years ago at 5:04 pmThird time already this week I get a reference to high school reading material. Nice comparison. As long as nothing compares to Equus…
11 years ago at 1:40 pmOnion? You mean Pledge Apple
11 years ago at 8:13 pmStill not as bad as Miami University giving the boot to Sigma Chi, Phi Kappa Tau, and Beta Theta Pi’s alpha chapters within a matter of years.
11 years ago at 10:19 amFrom my understanding, Sigma Chi actually needed to be kicked off
11 years ago at 11:13 amFrom my understanding, you should drink bleach for your ignorance.
11 years ago at 4:25 pmalso SAE (not an alpha but still noteworthy Miami chapter)
11 years ago at 8:31 pmYeah? Were those the first chapters of said fraternities? What you seem to be missing is that these were the first chapters. Pike was founded at UVA. Sigma Nu’s first expansion was to UVA, making it the second chapter. These are very significant chapters to each fraternities. Kappa Sigma was founded at UVA as well, and it would be a shock and almost devastating for me to see that chapter lost due to some overzealous administrator. Luckily the guys of the Zeta chapter (UVA) are more straight laced than at my alma mater
11 years ago at 4:32 pmYes, you illiterate idiot. Sigma Chi, Beta, and Phi Tau were literally founded at Miami. Pretty sure that would make them the “first chapters of said fraternities”. What part of “alpha chapter” did you not understand?
11 years ago at 2:44 pm“UVA associate dean pleads guilty to child porn” looks like they are trying to cover something up in the news.
11 years ago at 11:29 amDoesnt matter if youre a man of Pike, Pi Kappa Phi, Lambda, Delta Sig, or Fiji when you here shit like this it makes you mourn the slow destruction greek life.
11 years ago at 11:42 am*hear
11 years ago at 6:16 pmTake a lap
Reading this makes me feel awful and pissed as hell. I learned about Beta chapter as a pledge, as I’m sure many other Sigma Nu’s across the nation had to as well. Since we no longer have an Alpha chapter, many people kind of considered the Virginia chapter the next best thing. What a crock of shit.
11 years ago at 11:48 amAgree with everything UvaDKE said about the administration, would be amazed if this doesn’t happen to multiple other fraternities over the next couple years as Grove and TSully are starting to aggresivly cover their asses after the zete incident a couple years back.
The stories behind what the user said happened only contain elements of the truth (not as simple as it is stated), but in all honestly a fraternity at UVA would be kicked off for anything the university considered hazing, irregardless of whether it was just forcing pledges to do a couple pushups or sending all of them to the hospital, its just the attitude the administration has right now. They only care about public perception and giving the appearance of “fighting hazing”, not about actually helping people or benefitting the fraternity system. Curious to hear if administrations at other schools are starting to take on similar attitudes.
11 years ago at 12:12 pm