Ole Miss Sigma Chi Suspended For Alcohol Violations, Reinstated After Alumni Donation, er, Judicial Appeal

Rob Fox13 years ago

This past spring, the Eta chapter of Sigma Chi at the University of Mississippi was suspended for one year after violating the university’s alcohol policy. The suspension, while short, was harsh.

From The Daily Mississippian:

The Judicial Council found the Eta Chapter guilty of illegal possession of alcohol, disorderly conduct, disregard for university authority and failure to follow the guidelines for registering activities with the university as described in the Student Organization Handbook, according to a press release issued by Sigma Chi April 5.

…

The suspension officially begins May 13, 2013, and ends Jan. 1, 2014, and it includes no formal recruitment, no social activities, no housing, no meals and no formal meetings for its duration, according to the fraternity’s release. The current residents of the fraternity house may continue to live there and receive meals for the remainder of the semester, according to the Judicial Council’s release.

The violation was the fraternity’s third strike. Sigma Chi had received another alcohol violation as recently as a few weeks prior to the one that earned them their suspension. The ruling was handed down by the University of Mississippi’s Judicial Council, which consists of three Ole Miss students, one faculty member, and one staff member.

The Judicial Council’s ruling was unanimous, which is a little disappointing. There was just so much opportunity for corruption here, all missed. Ole Miss has a massive Greek presence, and you would have to assume that most, if not all, of the students on the Judicial Council were Greeks. Not only that, but generally a person with enough aspiration to participate in something as lame as the school’s Judicial Council probably wants to go places in life. Maybe they want to be a judge, maybe they want to be a politician, who knows? What I do know is that one day, regardless of political affiliation or morality, they’ll be taking kickbacks, and this would have been a perfect, low risk opportunity to get some experience. I mean, you don’t want to find yourself, five years from now, making deals with God and Phillip Morris as you and a tobacco lobbyist bury a dead stripper at 3am in a dark field in rural Virginia and not have any idea what you’re doing.

Another thing to consider is that the members of Sigma Chi were the brethren of those student Judicial Council members, the least those students could have done was be considerate enough to put their rulings up for sale. You’re on a student Judicial Council ruling on an alcohol violation that caused no injuries or deaths. So really, who gives a shit? Hell, if it were me, all I would’ve asked for was a case of beer.

“You don’t wanna get suspended? Pick me up a case of something nice, a craft beer or microbrew or something and yeah, I’ll keep your fraternity on campus.”

Maybe the Judicial Council members were trying to do things the right way? Oftentimes, that’s the problem with college students, the world hasn’t given them enough of a beating yet, so their principles are still rigid and strict, and thus aren’t as malleable as those of a mature, intelligent adult whose principles have been viciously tenderized by life. That too, is bullshit, because one day those students, should they seek political office or some other position of power, will definitely be doing something corrupt, and the end result won’t be as harmless as letting a fraternity stay on campus and rage. No, more likely some Honduran babies will end up drinking from a jungle stream that’s basically liquid cancer.

Of course, maybe the Sigma Chi undergrads didn’t try any under the table dealings. That too, is a missed opportunity, since according to our tipster one of the Sigma Chis is (or was, not sure) the student body president. So many unused connections, so little abuse of power, such a shame.

Clearly, the Sigma Chi alumni felt the same way, because since the kids refused to handle the situation like adults, i.e. through corruption and back alley deals, the grown-ups had to step in and do it for them, allegedly.

This past week, Sigma Chi’s suspension was lifted by the Judicial Council, the very same one that initially suspended the Eta chapter for a year. Sigma Chi was allowed to appeal their suspension, but according to sources, that appeal would have had to have been presented to the Appellate Consideration Board. Maybe the Appellate Consideration Board then presents their recommendation to the Judicial Council and the Judicial Council rules from there, I’m not really sure. Either way, those sound like two separate entities to me. Regardless, Sigma Chi is (mostly) back.

From WAPT.com:

Associated Student Body Judicial Council officials said Sigma Chi will participate in formal recruitment and be allowed full rights to use its house. Members will live in the chapter house, eat meals at the house and participate in and host philanthropy events.

The fraternity will observe one year of social probation, which means no parties, through the Spring 2014 semester.

Social probation? TFM.

The tipster who forwarded this story to us claims this all came about after a Sigma Chi alumnus made a donation to the university. No names were disclosed and no amount was given. This could very easily all be a giant load of bullshit. Maybe Sigma Chi just successfully appealed their suspension, or maybe the students took care of the corruption first (*crosses fingers for the latter*). Either way, I’ve seen fraternities get out of way worse shit than this for seemingly unexplainable reasons that were never truly disclosed, and instead billed as a “successful appeal.” THE SYSTEM WORKS! Those successful appeals were almost always some sort of alumni intervention. Is that what happened here? I hope so, because that’s the world I like to live in.

No matter what actually happened, rage on Sigma Chi. If you can get out of a suspension, you can surely find a way around social probation.

[via TheDMOnline and WAPT.com]