The former Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity house (Perry Fish/Staff Photographer)

The suspensions of Lambda Chi Alpha and Alpha Chi Rho left the Central Michigan University Greek community with nine social fraternities.

Both suspensions were issued during the month of September, but the groups faced their suspensions for different reasons.

Lambda Chi Alpha was suspended for four years for an incident involving alcohol with non-fraternity brothers at the fraternity’s chapter, which had been located at Deerfield Village Apartments, 3400 Deerfield Road. Alpha Chi Rho was suspended until the fall of 2014 for hazing allegations.

Lambda Chi Alpha’s fate was determined by the all-Greek judicial board and Alpha Chi Rho’s hazing allegations were investigated and acted upon by their national chapter.

Mount Pleasant senior Taylor Jackson, president of the Interfraternity Council, said he was sad to see the Greek community shrink after the suspensions. However, Jackson emphasized the importance of the policies held by Greek Life.

“It’s obviously a sad day any time our community gets smaller,” Jackson said. “It’s unfortunate for an organization and the alumni to lose all that history over the actions of a few members, but in order for fraternity life to grow, everyone needs to be held accountable to the same policies and standards.”

IFC Vice President of Public Relations Shawn Qualls, a St. Clair Shores senior, emphasized the importance of each fraternity’s risk management policy.

“Nobody expects a fraternity to be here one day and gone the next, let alone two,” Qualls said. “The safety of students is paramount in both of these cases.”

Qualls said both groups will get an opportunity to recolonize after their suspensions are fulfilled.

“Usually, (the fraternities) are suspended for four years which leaves enough time for the youngest members to graduate,” Qualls said. “It’s a temporary reorganization thing that has happened to a lot of fraternities.”

Birmingham junior Chelsea Lord, an Alpha Chi Omega sister, said many of her sorority sisters were saddened by the suspensions.

“A lot of my sisters were close with the Lambda Chis after we had them for Greek Week, so it was really disheartening,” Lord said. “I felt bad for them, but it raises awareness about how serious breaking one rule can be.”

Lake Orion senior Jennifer McNairnie, Panhellenic Council vice president of communication, said she was sympathetic for the suspended fraternities, but knew the policies needed to be upheld.

“It’s sad to see them go but unfortunately, it was something that had to happen,” McNairnie said. “Hopefully, it will strengthen the rest of the community and we can all learn from this.”

Both suspensions were issued during the month of September, but the groups faced their suspensions for different reasons. Lambda Chi Alpha was suspended for four years for an incident involving alcohol with non-fraternity brothers, while Alpha Chi Rho was suspended until the fall of 2014 for hazing allegations.

Lambda Chi Alpha’s fate was determined by the all-Greek judicial board and Alpha Chi Rho’s hazing allegations were investigated and acted upon by their national chapter.

Mount Pleasant senior Taylor Jackson, president of the Interfraternity Council, said he was sad to see the Greek community shrink after the suspensions. However, Jackson emphasized the importance of the policies held by Greek Life.

“It’s obviously a sad day any time our community gets smaller,” Jackson said. “It’s unfortunate for an organization and the alumni to lose all that history over the actions of a few members, but in order for fraternity life to grow, everyone needs to be held accountable to the same policies and standards.”

IFC Vice President of Public Relations Shawn Qualls, a St. Clair Shores senior, emphasized the importance of each fraternity’s risk management policy.

“Nobody expects a fraternity to be here one day and gone the next, let alone two,” Qualls said. “The safety of students is paramount in both of these cases.”

Qualls said both groups will get an opportunity to recolonize after their suspensions are fulfilled.

“Usually, (the fraternities) are suspended for four years which leaves enough time for the youngest members to graduate,” Qualls said. “It’s a temporary reorganization thing that has happened to a lot of fraternities.”

Birmingham junior Chelsea Lord, a sister of Alpha Chi Omega, said many of her sorority sisters were saddened by the suspensions.

“A lot of my sisters were close with the Lambda Chis after we had them for Greek Week, so it was really disheartening,” Lord said. “I felt bad for them, but it raises awareness about how serious breaking one rule can be.”

Lake Orion junior Jennifer McNairnie, vice president of communications for the Panhellenic Council, said she was sympathetic for the suspended fraternities, but knew the policies needed to be upheld.

“It’s sad to see them go but unfortunately, it was something that had to happen,” McNairnie said. “Hopefully, it will strengthen the rest of the community and we can all learn from this.”

The social fraternity has received a sanction of suspension from CMU until the fall of 2014 for hazing potential members. The university and Alpha Chi Rho’s national chapter investigated reports of hazing and decided to issue the suspension on Sept. 23.

Assistant Director of Student Life Tom Idema said in an email, the punishment was issued by the Alpha Chi Rho national fraternity with university policy.

Idema said the decision was not made by the Interfraternity Council, which determined the fate of CMU’s Lambda Chi Alpha chapter in early September.

“The university received a complaint that Alpha Chi Rho had been hazing its members. The University worked with the national office of Alpha Chi Rho to look into these allegations,” Idema said. “The national office decided last Friday to close the chapter until the fall of 2014. The university adjudicated this case, according to the Code of Student Rights, Responsibilities and Disciplinary Procedures.”

The decision comes less than a month after the suspension of Lambda Chi Alpha, which was suspended for four years following a recruiting violation involving non-members and alcohol.

Unlike in the case of Lambda Chi Alpha, in which letters were removed from the fraternity house and the house closed, Alpha Chi Rho will continue to display letters on their house and members will continue to live there.

The loss of the Alpha Chi Rho chapter leaves only nine social fraternities left on CMU’s campus, two less than the 11 social sororities.

Members of Alpha Chi Rho’s CMU chapter declined to comment on the suspension to Central Michigan Life.

The Alpha Chi Rho national office was unable to be reached for comment by the time of publication Sunday.

The suspension of the fraternity chapter, which had been located at Deerfield Village Apartments, 3400 Deerfield Road, came after an undisclosed incident Monday, but in an email from Alumni President Ryan Collins to Lambda Chi alumni, Collins said the incident involved students unaffiliated with the fraternity and their use of alcohol.

“What allegedly happened was, there was an incident regarding alcohol during an event at the house. Two students (non-brothers) were tapped out and taken home. These two were later on taken to hospital with alcohol-related issues,” Collins said in the email.

Collins also said the suspension is currently undergoing an appeals process.

“I can give a very vague description at this time, but know I cannot send out a full written statement until the appeal process is over (for fear it could hurt the chapter’s chances of winning their appeal),” the email stated.

Collins would not comment to Central Michigan Life on the issue.

Tom Idema, assistant director of the Office of Student Life, said the decision to suspend the fraternity’s charter for four years was made by the All Greek Judicial Board, not the university.

“We are aware that the all-Greek Judicial Board (made up of student leaders from Greek community) has looked into this incident and has acted as they determined appropriate,” Idema said in an e-mail.

Idema said he backed the decision.

“We support the students on the All Greek Judicial Board and respect their decision in this matter,” he said, “These are very difficult decisions to make, but it is always encouraging to see the fraternity and sorority community demonstrate the ability to govern their own.”

Idema also said the Office of Student Life is in the process of their own investigation.

“The Office of Student Rights and Responsibilities is currently investigating this matter and will act in accordance to the Code of Student Rights, Responsibilities and Disciplinary Procedures,” he said.

The suspension of the fraternity chapter, which had been located at Deerfield Village Apartments, 3400 Deerfield Road, came after an undisclosed incident Monday.

“This decision was not made by the national fraternity, but by CMU,” said an email to members and alumni of the fraternity.

As of Friday, Lambda Chi Alpha members are inactive and Ryan Collins, alumni president, called the charter’s revocation a “terrible incident.” Because decisions are still being made he couldn’t comment directly on what happened Monday.

“We are working hard to make amends and correct the issue,” he said.

Isabella County Undersheriff John Tellis said no police report was filed Monday regarding the fraternity and Isabella County Central Dispatch officials said no calls were made to police regarding the fraternity.

Collins said the incident was handled by CMU’s Office of Student Life in conjuction with the Greek Juidicial Board. He said decisions are still being made about the future of the group.

“Things are still up in the air,” Collins said.

As of this afternoon, the house had been emptied of all fraternity affiliated objects.

A separate email said, “We got all the composites, trophies, plaques, the COAT OF ARMS, chapter flags, etc out.”

Calls to Central Michigan University’s Office of Student Life, which oversees Greek Life, were not returned.

For more information on this breaking news stay tuned to cm-life.com

Maurices is putting on a fashion show called “Rescues and Runways.“ The Maurices store will pair with local animal shelters to collect supply donations within the stores and, at the end of the month, they will hold a fashion show with the animals. The event is to help out local area animal shelters in need of supplies and increase animal adoptions. The fashion show will take place at 3 p.m. Saturday at the Broadway Theater, 216 E. Broadway St. For more information, e-mail guza1ae@cmich.edu.

Lambda Chi missing sign

Lambda Chi Alpha’s rush sign went missing Wednesday and fraternity members are searching for it or anyone who knows of its whereabouts. “We have no idea who took our rush sign,” said Michael Houlihan, President of Lambda Chi Alpha. “It’s a big sign. I don’t know where it could have gone.” Lambda Chi Alpha placed its sign on the front lawn of the Bovee University Center and was scheduled to have it there until Sept. 23. Houlihan said if anyone has any leads to please inform a Lambda Chi Alpha member. He said whoever has the sign can return it to the fraternity house in front of Deerfield Village on Deerfield Road. For a full story, check cm-life.com.

The gift of life

Dr. Benjamin Carson Sr., a well-known pediatric neurosurgeon and philanthropist and the first to successfully complete the separation of type-2 vertical craniopagus (Siamese) twins, will come to Central Michigan University for a presentation called “Gifted Hands” from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Saturday in Warriner Hall’s Plachta Auditorium. Students, staff, faculty and the public can attend the free event with a public reception to follow immediately after. Carson has been recognized with the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his achievements and advancing education for all students. For a full story, check out cm-life.com.

Operation Gala

The School of Music will host the 2009 Opera Gala at 8 p.m. Saturday in the Staples Family Concert Hall. Central Michigan University music students will perform various works of art from Puccini, Mozart and more.

Move to Zumba

“Zumba Revisited” is an upcoming Latin Fitness aerobic exercise at 6 p.m. Oct. 13th in the Bovee University Center. The event was originally scheduled for Sept. 29, but was rescheduled because of technical difficulties. There will be traditional, fast-paced beats, and participants can get a full-body workout. “It’s salsa and merengue music and a fitness-based class,” said Jennifer Spiegel, assistant director of fitness and wellness. “You don’t have to have extensive background to dance. It allows you to release and it is a good way to celebrate the day.” The event is sponsored by Minority Student Services and University Recreation.
For more information, contact Minority Student Services at 774-3945.

Stereotypes Hurt

‘Ouch! That Stereotype Hurts’ will host a two-hour skill building event from 2 to 4 p.m. Oct. 14th in Rowe Hall Room 229. Those interested in registering can contact 774-6447 or e-mail StratOD@cmich.edu. Participants will learn six specific skills that are practical and applicable to Central Michigan University and in the real world. “Participants will gain skills to speak up when demeaning comments are made,“ said Human Resources Assistant Nate Holmes.

Business Credit Card training

A Central Michigan University Business Credit Card training session will take place from 10 to 11 a.m. Oct. 21 in Foust Hall Room 133. For individuals who do not have a Timelink account, they will need to fill out a request form before attending the session. Contact 774-7363 or 774-3481 to sign up or for training or more information.

Like many fraternities during rush week, Lambda Chi Alpha placed its sign on the front lawn of the Bovee University Center at Central Michigan University. It went missing today and fraternity members are searching for it or anyone who knows of its whereabouts.

“We have no idea who took our rush sign,” said Michael Houlihan, President of Lambda Chi Alpha. “It’s a big sign. I don’t know where it could have gone.”

The Office of Student Life also has no idea where the sign is, whether it was taken down by another Lambda Chi Alpha member, another registered student organization or has disappeared as a practical joke.

Student Life Assistant Director Tom Idema said the sign was approved for placement in front of the UC between Sept. 16 and Sept. 23. The sign was still on the lawn Monday, he said, but he does not know who removed it. Any registered organization can post signs on the lawn between the UC and Preston Street for one full week.

Idema said University Services will remove signs if groups do not take the signs down. University Services, he said, did not take down the sign though.

“At the moment, we really don’t think it was stolen, but rather that the fraternity doesn’t know where it is,” Idema said. “It’s one of those oddball, nobody knows type of a story. I am curious myself to find out what happened to it.”

Idema said if the sign is found to be stolen, Lambda Chi Alpha can chose to report it to CMU Police. He said if another RSO is found to have taken the sign, the fraternity can report the group to the Office of Student Life.

“That would all really be up to the members of Lambda Chi Alpha,” Idema said.

Houlihan said if anyone has any leads to please inform a Lambda Chi Alpha member. He said whoever has the sign can return it to their fraternity house in front of Deerfield Village on Deerfield Road.

“It’s just a rush sign, but it lets us get our name out there and get students to know who were are. This helps students get familiar with our letters,” Houlihan said. “We just want our sign back.”