Kappa Sigma fraternity no longer can operate at Northwestern after being suspended by the university and Interfraternity Council on June 23 for violating the terms of a May probation agreement.
The fraternity’s national organization also suspended the chapter’s charter Wednesday, according to Executive Director Mitchell Wilson.
Sanctions against the chapter resulted from an incident at Kappa Sig’s June 4 formal at Shedd Aquarium in Chicago. Fraternity members engaged in acts of major vandalism, alcohol use, animal endangerment and reckless behavior, said Kyle Pendleton, NU’s associate director of Greek Affairs.
A Shedd Aquarium official could not provide an account of the incident.
Kappa Sig is not the first fraternity to receive harsh university sanctions in the past few years.
Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity was suspended in 2001 for an alcohol-related incident at an off-campus party. In 2000, NU’s chapter of Sigma Chi was kicked off campus after its charter was suspended by the national organization.
Sigma Chi is slated to return to campus in Fall Quarter.
The earliest Kappa Sig may return to campus is January 2007, after all its current members graduate.
“Overall there are good men and strong leaders in the chapter,” Pendleton said. “But the undergraduate chapter as a whole has exhibited an unwillingness to uphold the standards of the university and the fraternity.”
Pendleton said Kappa Sig “left IFC no other option than to recommend suspension,” with repeated violations throughout its probationary period, which was scheduled to end in Spring Quarter 2004. The fraternity was placed on probation after a February incident involving a “pledge dad hunt” that sent an intoxicated freshman pledge to the hospital.
The university is providing housing alternatives for fraternity members who planned to live this summer in the Kappa Sig house at 2251 Sheridan Rd., Pendleton said. As of June 22, the house is closed until further notice.
Although saddened by the loss of the opportunity for Kappa Sig’s members to be involved in the Greek community, IFC President Jeremy Esposito, a Medill senior, praised university officials for their willingness to work with IFC to determine sanctions for the fraternity.
“I sincerely hope that the IFC judicial board’s handling of this matter proves to the university that not only can Greeks govern themselves, but that they are committed to governing themselves effectively and responsibly,” he said in an e-mail to The Summer Northwestern.
