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The University of Wisconsin Committee on Student Organizations suspended the Sigma Chi fraternity Monday for the duration of an investigation of an alleged alcohol-related incident that occurred April 2.
The suspension forbids the fraternity chapter from holding events and reserving space on campus, according to CSO bylaws. The chapter and/or individual members could face sanctions if found responsible for the incident.
UW spokesperson John Lucas said the incident continued into the early hours of April 3, but could offer no further information.
“There has been a complaint filed, and right now we are following our code to follow through with the complaint,” CSO Chair Sol Grosskopf said. “As of now, we have kicked it up to the Office of the Dean of Students to go further with the investigation.”
According to the Student Organization Office’s website, investigations are usually concluded within 10 days.
Greek program adviser Jeff Benson told The Badger Herald at a meeting in March that investigators are assigned from ODOS to CSO cases.
“They contact the organization in question, set up a meeting and ask a number of questions,” Benson said. “They also can contact complainants and anyone else who might have information on the case.”
After concluding the investigation, Benson said officers report their findings to CSO, which then deliberates whether to hold a hearing, encourage a mutual resolution or dismiss the case.
While Grosskopf said CSO hopes to wrap the case up by the end of the semester, the organization will be able to pick up the case in the fall if they are granted an extension by the dean of students.
Once the case is concluded, the suspension will be lifted or the appropriate sanctions will be enforced. Grosskopf said sanctions are decided on a case-by-case basis, so past actions taken by CSO are not indicative of possible outcomes for the Sigma Chi case.
Grosskopf confirmed CSO operates under the principle of preponderance of evidence, which is a threshold lower than a United States court. If members of CSO feel there is a 51 percent chance the organization is guilty, they can declare them so and take disciplinary action.
The April 2 incident coincided with Derby Days, an annual weeklong fundraiser hosted by the fraternity. The event involved various competitions hosted by Sigma Chi and five campus sororities.
April 2 was the fraternity’s “Derby Dub Night, Wisconsin’s Best Dance Sorority” event, which involved skits performed by sororities in the basement of the Sigma Chi house.
Derby Days, which was sponsored by several bars, involved several events throughout the week that took place at bars around the campus area.
Lucas added the suspension had nothing to do with the allegations of sexual assault at the Sigma Chi house published in The Badger Herald last month.
“This doesn’t have a bearing on anything [the Herald] has reported on in the past,” Lucas said.
Sigma Chi President Andrew Thalhimer did not return several phone calls as of press time.
- Kevin Bargnes contributed to this report
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A six-column headline about the suspension, and a tiny one-column subhead (buried under the world’s most dominant art) indicating that it’s not related to the rape. Classy.
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why is this article front page? so stupid. I’m not even in a fraternity and think this is the most unprofessional thing i’ve ever seen.
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Is this a joke? This article is about an alcohol violation at a fraternity house…since when does that constitute a front-page article? This is nothing but a summary of the CSO bylaws, but more than that it is a petty attempt by the BH to try to bring up the rape allegations once again. are there any journalists working at the BH??
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Yeah. Word on the street is Signe Brewster and Kevin Bargnes hate the Greek system. I mean, god, the fact that an organization is being made accountable for breaking the rules (and maybe even committing felonies) clearly isn’t news and they must just have a personal vendetta against Sigma Chi.
Bargnes and Brewster have done Langdon Street a great service, and any Greek leader will tell you so. Provided they’re not in Sigma Chi, of course.
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sweetest guys on campus. derby days rocked my world. we sorority girls love you guys, you have all of our support. it’s a shame your good reputation has to take this, but the cream always rises to the top, so don’t worry and keep your heads up.
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So that’s how you spell sigma chi… just in case I missed the title of the article.
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Sigma Chi guys - quit blaming the Badger Herald - or any news outlet - for all your problems. You knew you were in the spotlight when you held a philanthropy with alcohol involved, one of the clearest rule violations there are. Whether or not the Badger Herald covers this story, you are still going to be under investigation. So, for the good of the entire Greek System, instead of focusing on your image, focus on your actions (preferably by cleaning them up a bit).
-A fellow Greek
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Who cares if it’s not that newsworthy! I’m just happy this frat finally got in trouble for something they did, and i’m sure a lot of other people are too. I really hope that these guys end up in WAY more trouble than this once the sexual assault allegations are fully investigated. Hopefully their punishment will include a permanent suspension from college + crimial prosecuation and jail time for rape or acccessory to rape.
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Preponderance of the evidence is, contrary to the representation in the story, a civil litigation standard in the United States. I suspect that the reporter did not hear the additional information that the criminal standard is “Beyond a reasonable doubt”. The POTE standard is indeed the 51% burden.
Keep up the good work. News is news.
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Obviously this has something to do with the rape. A frat doesn’t just get suspended because of some little alcohol! There’s got to be more to this story. What does the alcohol violation imply? Another roofie or is it that they aren’t following some sort of rules that the greek system has to follow if they have a party? Wish BH could have given more to this story than some petty “violation”
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Three anonymous comments left on a college newspaper website before 2 am on a Tuesday questioning the newsworthiness of a news story? You don’t have to be a professor to conclude that it’s three members of a frat under fire looking to stay out of the spotlight. Here’s a little perspective: When you own a gigantic house in the middle of the frat district and invite several sororities into your place to perform for your event, sponsored by several bars on a campus that is trying to battle alcohol abuse issues, you’re going to be scrutinized. The story isn’t so much that someone was serving beer to underage college kids, it’s that the sigmachis were stupid enough to do it in such an arrogant, high profile setting.
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1:53 - yea, I’ll bet you’re not in a frat haha. Only those in them call them fraternities smart one
But yea - obviously its frat bashing season here at UW
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this is the stupidest thing i have ever seen in the herald. ps… someone gets raped and suddenly they are suspended… and it has nothing to do with the rape. lets be honest now
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Hello everyone, the daily cardinal also has this as its top story. Doesn’t anyone understand that a fraternity house that is under investigation for GANG rape allegations shouldn’t be throwing parties? This definitely should be front page news.
Doesn’t that show how ignorant, conceded and stupid the sigma chi members really are? They probably sat in their chapter meeting saying…”Did anyone do this rape thing?…No response”…”Okay, guys, so the social will be Derby Days”….
Come on, this frat is ridiculous and they should be kicked off campus. they represent no part of what UW-Madison is.
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Dear BH,
What is your grudge against Sigma Chi about? Putting this on the front page with only a summary of what the University might do, but with a headline that makes everyone think its going to be about the rape allegations. You didn’t get your fact straight about their derby days events. All you guys want to do is try to stir up controversy surrounding sigma chi just like how you did with the past article about them. Honestly this could be the dumbest thing ive ever seen on the front page of a newspaper.
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Slow news day + frat living under a microscope of scrutiny from rape allegations + alcohol-related incident = sucks for Sig Chi
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DOWN WITH THE FRATS.
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Haha that sucks for EX…my fraternity got put on prob for the same reason and the Badger Herald didn’t even cover it…i’m starting to feel bad for every member of their house but thank god its not my fraternity
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Hmmm…
“I joined an organization with big letters emblazened on everything we do together and our house. We loudly declare our membership proclaiming all the good we do through charitable events and our belief in brotherhood/sisterhood etc… But everyone keeps paying attention to us? I don’t get it!”
Grow up.
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this story has been on the local news all last night and this morning. shut up whiners and write for the paper if you want to determine what’s newsworthy.
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Of course this has something to do with the rape. The University has no use for SigChi and negative publicity stemming from that incident. Do you think they enjoy getting calls from parents asking about the safety of children? Of course not. I’d be shocked if it wasn’t widely understood with the University that SigChi gets no slack on anything.
That said, SigChi is a bunch of morons for holding this event. It’s a clear violation. Then again, most of them apparently cannot read.
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“…instead of focusing on your image, focus on your actions…”
Well put.
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Too bad the badger herald doesnt put out an article saying “Thousands of Dollars Raised By Sigma Chi for Children’s Miracle Network”- derby days raisend thousands of dollars for a reputable nonprofit, yet an alcohol incident tarnished sigma chis name again…slow newsssss
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That Sol guy sounds like schmuck.
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omggggg sigma chi has parties??? why dont i ever get invited
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Why is this on the front page? who gives a FU*K?
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THE BH IS A JOKE.
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Dear 8:29 AM D-bag, the herald is board and looking for words to print. period.
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This is front page because those idiots were stupid enough to have a party when they were already on probation and under investigation for the rape case. So keep saying this is unclassy or unworthy of front page news but its news nonetheless and it just proves once again how shady Sigma Chi is..
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….at least sigma chi’s not on MTV, then UW would look REAL bad. might be time for the system to do a little spring cleaning in the greek system and give sigma chi the boot
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waaa waa waa…ohh the stupid frat boys are so horrible..kick them off campus, put them in jail, cry cry cry…..you are all pathetic. Get off all of your high horses and stop judging people. This is the same responses that came out to the other articles and guess what…that house is still here. They aren’t going anywhere because people are just coming up with absurd accusations. And before you harass their charity work, think about the last time you did anything to raise serious money for a worthy cause. You are all just a bunch of hypocrits. I support these guys 100%. Best of luck with all this nonsense.
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F-ing idiots, doing this when they are under the spotlight. These guys have no one to blame but themselves.
P.S. - to the sig chi members who are obviously the only ones writing comments defending the frat - with the publicity your frat has been receiving lately this is DEFINITELY front page material. There is no grudge, it’s on the front of BOTH student newspapers. Clean your act up.
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and it’s on the front page of wisc.edu when you login. Obviously this is big news. Get these guys off campus immediately.
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re 1:45 “Then again, most of them apparently can’t read.” hahahahahahahahahaha. It’s funny because it’s true. Prophetic stuff.
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For everyone not in the Greek system that seems to know everything and want to comment here are a few facts you should get straight. One, the fraternity initially put themselves on probation and therefore was not on it at the time of alleged party. Two, it is not against any rules to host philanthropy events at third party vendors. Third, the reporting on the Greek system has and always will be biassed as evidenced in this article. Way to throw around all the maybes for a whole article only to state the facts, which make the fraternity actually look good for once, briefly at the end. Great reporting and I’m glad this campus has learned to believe everything they read. I bet you guys believe The Hills is real too, don’t you?
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UW needs to get this joke of a fraternity off campus, they are nothing but trouble. My friend was really drunk at their basement party a few weeks ago and i had to drag one of the frat members off of her because he was CREEPING to the max. Not saying he was gonna rape her like the other guys in their frat did to that one poor girl, but You’d think they would learn! Stop acting stupid or leave our university!
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What are they going to post as front page news if not this story? Today’s headline: UNION SOUTH DESIGN REVISED??? This is a campus newspaper. We live in a bubble here, and right now the biggest story is that Sigma Chi is suspended. Stop acting like this isn’t newsworthy. This story more than any other is going to get people to read the Badger Herald, and that’s any newspaper’s objective.
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First, Sigma Chi’s are not the only ones posting in support of the house. Second, The event in question was not a party. Do your research. Third, Suspensions happen frequently, and are rarely covered by the Herald or the Cardinal - while this event is not associated with the alleged rape case, the house is in the spotlight as a result of what has come up recently, this violation is something that unfortunately does happen more routinely. Lastly, reporters cover stories - don’t make personal accusations based on what people are obligated to cover unless you would rather do it yourself.
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To answer a previous comment, the Sigma Chi suspension has nothing to do with rape or just because of the alcohol involved. As you know, frat houses are not dry, so alcohol is allowed at events such as Derby Days. However, Sigma Chi didn’t follow the Greek rules. These include, for any social, getting permission for higher authority to have social (and permission from other 5 sororities involved in Derby Days). Sigma Chi did not do so, which results in suspension.
I do, however, agree and think it is ridiculous how this made the cover story. Really? Of course, it grabbed everyones attention, so I guess that’s a plus, but overall, it’s not cover story worthy.
I think this article is simply reporting the news. Don’t hate on the Badger Herald.
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dice sam macdonald…
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The question of whether this story about a fraternity being suspended for an alcohol-related event when they are also implicated in a rape where alcohol and roofies were involved is absurd. This story is completely worthy of front-page coverage, as is validated by the comments it has generated. Students wouldn’t be talking about this fraternity, reading about it in an article, or posting comments about that article if they didn’t have strong feelings for or against the reputation of Sigma Chi. If the article is informative and generates comments—even if they are simply questioning it—it is worthwhile. Thank you, Signe. -Patrick Johnson
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you know what the sad thing is you frat haters just hate them because they continue to party hard and don’t give a crap about what the badger herald or you losers think.
I’m in a frat here, PKA to be exact, and honestly you just hate the kids because they have a nicer house than you, probably will have better careers than you, and definitely party harder than you.
Did any one of you idiots realize that there was no evidence in that rape case? For all we know, there is no evidence than any of that stuff really happened.
Enough said. frat it up.
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9:01, that is not the reason they are suspended…they definitely reported this social to the university, it is one of their biggest events
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I think it’s ridiculous that people are attacking the Badger Herald for putting this as a top story. As an earlier poster commented, we live in a bubble, and since the Badger Herald is a daily newspaper, not every day is going to have tons of news worthy events. The fact that there have been so many comments on it thus far make proove just how newsworthy it is. And, sure, obviously the fact that this fraternity was accused of an incident of sexual assault is conected to how newsworthy the story is. Past accusations (whether true or false) always factor into current news, that’s no different than in any other area of the news. Any serious critique of what the news media chooses to cover and chooses not to cover should certainly examine why the octomom is still in the spotlight rather than this story. Although the fact that Sigma Chi has been accused of rape surely factors into the newswothiness of this story, the Badger Herald is a campus newspaper, and covers campus issues. This includes greek life and they have covered suspensions of other fraternaties/sorrorities in the past. Don’t believe me? Check out the following links…
http://badgerherald.com/news/2007/02/05/uwstoutsuspendsfra.php http://badgerherald.com/news/2007/10/04/councilnotableto.php http://badgerherald.com/news/2007/10/03/greekfraternityund.php
There’s more than those as well.
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I think it is absurd that an alocohol violation at a fraternity house constitutes as the front page for any newspaper. Beyond the lack of a real or exciting newstory, the failure to identify that this suspension was not related to the alleged rape reported weeks before lacks journalistic integrity. If the Badger Herald wants to raise readership, please focus on actual, important newstories and stop using Sigma Chi as an attention-grabber.