hoosier
10-16-2002, 01:34 PM
Last spring we all gasped at a wide-spread photo showing two UNebraska DUs holding paddles and two bare butts with obvious paddling damage. The photo apparently circulated around campus, and eventually into the dean's email box.
The guys in the picture turned out to be brothers, not pledges.
This article tells us DU handled this pretty much correctly, and are at it again. Congrats to DU.
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Delta Upsilon makes progress to full recover
By RACHAEL SERAVALLI
October 15, 2002
The Delta Upsilon Fraternity chapter at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln has been through a lot since March. Now it appears things may finally be headed for a resolution.
The fraternity and its leadership was forced to take a hard look at itself after a hazing event that left the fraternity open to criticism from inside and out.
The incident involved a photograph that depicted nine identifiable Delta Upsilon members, two of which had abrasions on their buttocks. Several of the men were holding beer cans in the photo.
Andrew Carr, president of Delta Upsilon at UNL and a senior finance major, said, "We had to do some serious soul searching. We sat down and decided that there were two ways we could go with this: We could fight it and go down in flames, or we could step up to the challenge and prove that we're not that kind of fraternity."
As a result of the incident, the fraternity faced scrutiny from the university, the national chapter of Delta Upsilon and state authorities.
The state authorities investigated the matter and decided not to press charges, he said.
The national chapter of Delta Upsilon also did a review of the UNL chapter, he said. They sent a delegation composed of five local alumni and one international headquarters staff member to interview each member of the fraternity.
Fourteen members were expelled from the fraternity as a result of that review, Carr said.
At the university level, the fraternity was required to sign a disposition with a list of sanctions and goals, he said.
"We've definitely wised up," he said. "We know that if we're going to do something, we have to be safe so we can be around."
The disposition requires, among other things, inviting Rosemary Blum, director of UNL's judiciary affairs, to speak to the fraternity about the disposition; being on probation for the next two years; and checking in with judiciary affairs twice a semester with the fraternity's progress, he said.
Carr said the incident didn't have a lasting negative impact, though rush applications were down this year throughout the entire greek system.
Delta Upsilon signed 20 pledges this year as opposed to 24 last year.
Changes within the fraternity resulting from the disposition include having a third party, such as a bar, hold events where drinking is allowed, as well as taking part in programs, such as the Alcohol Skills Training Program with the University Health Center, to learn about responsible drinking, Carr said.
He said it was difficult to know the difference between institutionalized hazing and simple roughhousing.
"It was kind of accepted across the greek system, so we had to look at why it was continued and accepted," Carr said.
But Linda Schwartzkopf, director of Greek Affairs, said Delta Upsilon should have known what they were doing was wrong.
"The university policies and international fraternity guidelines are very clear about what constitutes hazing," she said.
Delta Upsilon also faced public criticism from at least one of its own who wound up leaving the house because of what he called verbal abuse and restrictions of his freedom.
"There are some gray areas concerning hazing. On a national level, there are some groups who have ruled that pledges shouldn't have to do anything that a regular member doesn't have to do," she said.
Restrictions such as assigning study hours or cleaning duties for first-year students and limiting students' activities, jobs or involvement in outside study groups could be considered hazing, which is why some fraternities are doing away with the practices entirely, she said.
"There's a positive to those restrictions, but not when a new member feels he's being singled out," she said.
Blum, also a co-author of the disposition signed by the fraternity, said the goal of judicial services was always to educate.
"Sometimes the situation is that a group is not aware of the resources available on campus. We want them to be aware of opportunities for team building, leadership development and wellness education," she said.
"Since the incident, I've seen a lot of good. They've reached out to individuals who can help them, and now they're running with the ball," Blum said.
The guys in the picture turned out to be brothers, not pledges.
This article tells us DU handled this pretty much correctly, and are at it again. Congrats to DU.
-----------------------------------------
Delta Upsilon makes progress to full recover
By RACHAEL SERAVALLI
October 15, 2002
The Delta Upsilon Fraternity chapter at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln has been through a lot since March. Now it appears things may finally be headed for a resolution.
The fraternity and its leadership was forced to take a hard look at itself after a hazing event that left the fraternity open to criticism from inside and out.
The incident involved a photograph that depicted nine identifiable Delta Upsilon members, two of which had abrasions on their buttocks. Several of the men were holding beer cans in the photo.
Andrew Carr, president of Delta Upsilon at UNL and a senior finance major, said, "We had to do some serious soul searching. We sat down and decided that there were two ways we could go with this: We could fight it and go down in flames, or we could step up to the challenge and prove that we're not that kind of fraternity."
As a result of the incident, the fraternity faced scrutiny from the university, the national chapter of Delta Upsilon and state authorities.
The state authorities investigated the matter and decided not to press charges, he said.
The national chapter of Delta Upsilon also did a review of the UNL chapter, he said. They sent a delegation composed of five local alumni and one international headquarters staff member to interview each member of the fraternity.
Fourteen members were expelled from the fraternity as a result of that review, Carr said.
At the university level, the fraternity was required to sign a disposition with a list of sanctions and goals, he said.
"We've definitely wised up," he said. "We know that if we're going to do something, we have to be safe so we can be around."
The disposition requires, among other things, inviting Rosemary Blum, director of UNL's judiciary affairs, to speak to the fraternity about the disposition; being on probation for the next two years; and checking in with judiciary affairs twice a semester with the fraternity's progress, he said.
Carr said the incident didn't have a lasting negative impact, though rush applications were down this year throughout the entire greek system.
Delta Upsilon signed 20 pledges this year as opposed to 24 last year.
Changes within the fraternity resulting from the disposition include having a third party, such as a bar, hold events where drinking is allowed, as well as taking part in programs, such as the Alcohol Skills Training Program with the University Health Center, to learn about responsible drinking, Carr said.
He said it was difficult to know the difference between institutionalized hazing and simple roughhousing.
"It was kind of accepted across the greek system, so we had to look at why it was continued and accepted," Carr said.
But Linda Schwartzkopf, director of Greek Affairs, said Delta Upsilon should have known what they were doing was wrong.
"The university policies and international fraternity guidelines are very clear about what constitutes hazing," she said.
Delta Upsilon also faced public criticism from at least one of its own who wound up leaving the house because of what he called verbal abuse and restrictions of his freedom.
"There are some gray areas concerning hazing. On a national level, there are some groups who have ruled that pledges shouldn't have to do anything that a regular member doesn't have to do," she said.
Restrictions such as assigning study hours or cleaning duties for first-year students and limiting students' activities, jobs or involvement in outside study groups could be considered hazing, which is why some fraternities are doing away with the practices entirely, she said.
"There's a positive to those restrictions, but not when a new member feels he's being singled out," she said.
Blum, also a co-author of the disposition signed by the fraternity, said the goal of judicial services was always to educate.
"Sometimes the situation is that a group is not aware of the resources available on campus. We want them to be aware of opportunities for team building, leadership development and wellness education," she said.
"Since the incident, I've seen a lot of good. They've reached out to individuals who can help them, and now they're running with the ball," Blum said.
