Lambda Chi Alpha Membership Review, Expulsions and Resignations -- Southern Methodist

[exlurker]

A long article in Southern Methodist's campus paper reports on Lambda Chi Alpha's expulsion of three dozen or so members after a membership review.

http://www.smudailycampus.com/news/l...bers-1.1341139

Published:*Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Updated:*Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Spencer Eggers/ The Daily Campus

. . . SMU’s Lambda Chi Alpha chapter saw 36 members expelled last Sunday after conducting a membership review the previous Saturday.

Forty-seven members saw all charges against them dropped and were returned to good standing within the organization. Several members, who were not expelled, as well as alumni, have resigned their membership from the fraternity. The Daily Campus could not find any official total concerning those who have resigned because the number keeps growing as each day passes.
According to John Holloway, director of chapter services of the international headquarters for Lambda Chi, the membership review came after a “thorough and sophisticated assessment” from which chapter alumni and international headquarters “corroborated reports of hazing, drug use in the chapter house and risky behaviors with little to no consequence at any level within the organization.”

. . . Members were notified of their expulsions by letters dropped off at Hughes-Trigg. Many members’ mothers were in attendance because it was Mothers’ Weekend for the fraternity.

“The room went pandemonium,” [a member] said. “Some people were crying, people were screaming, moms were yelling—moms didn’t know what was going on, moms still don’t understand, we still don’t understand.”

. . .Expelled members will be given pro-rated refunds for dues, housing and meals.
. . . Campus housing is being made available by SMU.

Thirty-one brothers lived in the house before the membership review, and all but eight have been expelled or have resigned.

. . . Members each sat for a 15-minute interview with alumni during the membership review.

SMU did not play a role in these proceedings and had no role in expelling members.

. . . LXA had been placed on probation for risk management violations by the international headquarters in January 2009. According to Holloway, the chapter was making “little progress” on completing the probation terms and additionally, “they had two more risk management incidents which violated state and local laws, General Fraternity laws and the policy of SMU.”

. . . Expelled members have the opportunity to appeal the international office’s decision. . . .
*

[stargirl007]

I have heard quite a bit about this as I am in one of the sorority chapters at SMU.

One thing I would love to reiterate, for the sake of my university and also my friends that either resigned/expelled from LXA or continue to be brothers: This article does not touch every single aspect of the situation. The comments and statements in the article are not definitive of their chapter as a whole. They are all really angry and hurt right now, but they have always been an outstanding chapter here at SMU while I have been here, and well respected among the student population. I really hope that you guys are successful in your rebuilding efforts.

Also more information can be found here, if anyone is interested:
http://www.smudailymustang.com/?p=25826

[LaneSig]

Dang! Getting the letters on Mothers Weekend! I'm sure that there were some upset Mommas.

[deepsouth]

Delivering the letters during an event, especially one with mothers present is extremely low class. This should have been dealt with in a private manner.

[33girl]

Originally Posted by deepsouth

Delivering the letters during an event, especially one with mothers present is extremely low class. This should have been dealt with in a private manner.

Totally agree. I can't think of a dumber thing to do than pissing off a large group of Southern women on any issue - let alone one to do with their sons!!

[Senusret I]

I feel like I have never heard of a membership review ever working.

[AGDee]

Originally Posted by Senusret I

I feel like I have never heard of a membership review ever working.

I've seen several work. But, this one is pretty large scale. I've never seen one that involved more than a 1/3 of the chapter. I've seen 4 or 5 bad eggs at once, with a few of their followers resigning though.

[KSUViolet06]

Originally Posted by Senusret I

I feel like I have never heard of a membership review ever working.

They have. Like Dee said, when there's a large portion of the chapter being asked to leave, there's going to be a problem.

Off-topic: Why would they do this during an event? That was in very poor taste.

[AGDee]

I wonder if they were even aware that it was Mother's weekend.

[KSUViolet06]

Originally Posted by AGDee

I wonder if they were even aware that it was Mother's weekend.

Hopefully they didn't and it just happened to coincide with the weekend they planned to deliver the letters...

[AGDee]

I figure either a) They didn't know or b) They thought it would better if moms were there to help kids pack and move, etc.

[KSUViolet06]

Originally Posted by AGDee

I figure either a) They didn't know or b) They thought it would better if moms were there to help kids pack and move, etc.

Wow. They couldn't possibly think that they were going to drop those off with mommies present and think this was going to go over well. Esp. if there were some helis in the bunch. I think even a helimom would have a right to be upset in this case. You're trying to have a nice time and here comes bad news.

[srmom]

Wow! What a shock and such a bummer. Back in my days at SMU, the Lambda Chi's were known as the "Milk and Cookie Boys" because of their clean cut image. It just goes to show how things can change over the years.

As a mom (who just got back from her son's Mom's Weekend), I can tell you that I would be POed beyond belief to have that kind of unexpected bombshell dropped during that event. (I say unexpected because maybe the boys had some idea that they were in deep doodoo, but the moms were probably completely in the dark).

I'm sure many of the moms travelled a far distance, paid for airfare, hotel and transportation, only to have an unbelievably upsetting and terrible weekend. Yeah, I'd be pissed.... not sure who at though, depending on what the real circumstances are. I'm curious as to that.

[33girl]

My question is: why drop these off on a SUNDAY? Even if it wasn't Mom's weekend, there's a chance that there would have been brothers home for the weekend and I don't care what you've done, you deserve the courtesy of having that handed to you, PERSONALLY, by an officer of the fraternity - not Fed Ex or however the hell the letters got there. (P.S., FedEx and other delivery services charge extra for Sunday deliveries, another reason not to do it then.) Maybe stargirl007 can fill us in on that.

[MUSK81]

Couldn't it have waited until the end of the term? I mean, it's mid-April now. Waiting a few more weeks would have made things a lot easier on everyone and kept bad publicity to a minimum.