Sara Castellanos
Managing editor
Two fraternities face disciplinary action because of alcohol-related incidents that occurred earlier in the quarter.
Kappa Sigma fraternity’s operations are currently suspended, which means that the fraternity cannot recruit new members or hold events, while Sigma Chi fraternity is on a self-imposed probation.
Kappa Sigma’s disciplinary action resulted from an incident that occurred on Sept. 25, when a Kappa Sigma fraternity member was charged with vehicular homicide and given a citation for driving under the influence, according to a police report from the Denver Police Department.
James Hills, 20, was released the next day on a $50,000 bond and his preliminary hearing is set for Dec. 1, according to the police report.
Senior Nick Sutton, president of Kappa Sigma, said that despite rumors to the contrary, the fraternity is still a recognized chapter by both the chapter’s national headquarters as well as DU.
Its operations are suspended for the remainder of fall quarter while the chapter’s national headquarters reviews the incident, Sutton said.
The fraternity is expecting to resume all activities by the beginning of winter quarter.
“In no way does our fraternity, or its members, support the actions that were taken that night that led to what happened,” Sutton said.
Kappa Sigma now has an official designated driver program to prevent any further occurrence of drinking and driving by any student in the DU community, he said.
“For no reason should any brother or anybody have a reason, nor ideally the option, to drink and drive,” said Sutton. “That being understood, we have no intention of abandoning our brother as he continues through this difficult process.”
According to Hannah Katz, co-president of the Greek Council, which oversees the eight fraternities and five sororities on campus, Sigma Chi is on a self-imposed social probation because members had alcohol in the common area of the fraternity house, which is against protocol. In addition, a freshman Gamma Phi Beta sorority member reportedly endured a head injury at an exchange between Sigma Chi and Gamma Phi Beta hosted by Sigma Chi on Sept. 26.
Amanda Henriksen, regional coordinator for Gamma Phi Beta sorority, responded to the incident.
Although Henriksen did not address exactly what happened to the sorority member, she stated: “Gamma Phi Beta … is aware of the accident regarding our new member. We’re concerned for her well-being and hope she recovers quickly as she has the complete support of our entire chapter. Be assured, we are assessing the situation and working with our advisors and international officers to ensure the continued safety of all chapter members.”
Henriksen said that Gamma Phi Beta provides appropriate supervision for all events, and educates its members about proper policies and behavioral expectations.
Senior Sam Smith, president of Sigma Chi fraternity, said that rumors have been circulating recently about Sigma Chi fraternity members hazing pledges.
“I can say with absolute certainty that we never force pledges to drink. There are brothers in Sigma Chi who abstain entirely from alcohol use, and that lifestyle has never been challenged or questioned by our brothers,” said Smith, who is also a member of the Greek Council.
Smith said Greek life is “consistently under heavy scrutiny, both from those who make up its membership and from those who are outside of the community.”
“The unfortunate reality of… Greek Life is that your good deeds go unrecognized and your missteps are generally made public, bringing on criticism and chastisement,” Smith said.
Fraternity brothers who violate protocol are sent to judicial board and given punishments ranging from community service, social probation, suspension or expulsion, Smith said.
Despite harsh criticisms, Smith said members of Greek Life believe in giving back to the community.
“Although this has been a tumultuous quarter for Greek Life, we all need to recognize that everybody makes mistakes. Before you pass judgment on someone, wait to see how they respond to adversity and observe what they learn from their mistakes,” Smith said.
Sutton, president of Kappa Sigma, also agreed that Greek Life’s proudest moments are often overlooked.
“Most of these actions … are naturally overlooked by the public eye because of the constant struggle against the outdated and inaccurate stigmas and stereotypes attached to Greeks in general,” Sutton said. “Despite the setback of the operations suspension, upon release we will continue our goal to raise the most community service hours of any Kappa Sigma chapter for this academic year.”
Katz said the vehicular homicide incident was unfortunate.
“It’s unfortunate that that happened, however, I think that just because [Hills] was a member of Greek Life, the situation was foreseen to many of the students that it was so much worse because he was a member of Greek Life,” Katz said.
She said that if Hills had not been a member of Greek Life, the Clarion staff would not have published the story on the front page of its Oct. 7 edition.
Megan Pendley, assistant director of campus life, said she believes this quarter has been “an anomaly.”
“Although we have seen incidents, we have also seen the Greek community come together in a way that they never have before,” she said. “The leaders and the general community members have come together to support one another in times of loss, to hold one another accountable when they are not living up to their standards, and I have seen them truly acting like a community.”
The Greek Council will implement a public relations position in February.
Pendley said this spokesperson will promote positive facts about Greek Life including money raised, community service hours completed, and the benefits of the Greek community.
Sutton said that in order to improve transparency between Greek Life and the DU community, a Clarion representative should attend weekly Greek Council meetings, which are open to the public.
“Putting practices or positions in place to accurately portray the Greek Life chapter operations, news and events should be an essential focus right now,” Sutton said. “Once we can prove through acts of greater transparency that Greek Life at DU is… focused on the betterment… of its members [rather than] malicious rumors that Greek Life is a devoted to exclusivity and hiding truth from our other communities… [then] in the very near future we can see the DU undergraduate community as a whole step out of this unnecessary turmoil.”
