The Badger Herald

NEWS

UW-Stout suspends fraternity

by Cassie Kornblau

Monday, February 5, 2007

The University of Wisconsin-Stout suspended a campus fraternity last week — with no chance of appeal for four years — after city police cited more than 100 underage drinkers at a Feb. 1 party.

According to Menomonie police, a new Department of Education grant aimed to curb underage drinking made the large-scale bust of the Sigma Tau Gamma fraternity possible.

"Our purpose was to locate a house party where illegal consumption of alcohol was occurring," MPD Officer Aaron Bergh said. "This is part of our ongoing efforts on both the education and enforcement side to stop underage drinkers."

With the increased funding, the MPD was able to use resources from the UW-Stout Police Department and the Dunn County Sheriff's Department to cite 133 underage drinkers and arrest several others for providing false identification, obstructing police officers, resisting arrest and other criminal offenses.

Doug Mell, UW-Stout director of university communications, said the arrests were not in response to any prior troubles with the fraternity, but rather an active effort to reduce underage drinking by securing the scene and maintaining control of the area.

"We want students to know how serious we take underage drinking," Mell said. "We will not stick our heads in the sand, but rather make a pro-active effort to stop underage drinking."

Mell said there is a strong likelihood police will show up at any campus party because of the inherent dangers of underage drinking.

Mell added the arrests were not aimed at the Greek system or combating legal drinking.

About 250 people make up UW-Stout's Greek system, and there are five other sorority and fraternity houses on campus, Mell said. He added students at UW-Stout do not receive citations often and the Feb. 1 bust is just an isolated incident that by no means reflects on the entire student body or the UW-Stout Greek community.

Clint McCurry, vice president of Sigma Tau Gamma, said this is not the first incident involving some of its fraternity members and added the chapter was already on probation for an incident two years ago.

The fraternity is launching an investigation into the arrests, McCurry said, and will determine what action to take from here.

"Sigma Tau Gamma Fraternity regrets the apparent violation of our policy and Wisconsin State law by members our chapter at UW-Stout," read a statement from the fraternity's national chapter. "Sigma Tau Gamma does not condone underage consumption of alcoholic beverages or any activity that encourages such behavior."

McCurry said Sigma Tau Gamma offers educational tools to address drug and alcohol risk management. The national organization has field staff trained in delivering presentations across the country to educate members on these issues.

"The problem with underage drinking is a national problem," McCurry said. "It is not just with fraternities."

UW-Stout recognizes the national problem with underage drinking and offers programs addressing alcohol consumption at freshman orientation and during a month-long event in October organized by students.