Theta Chi - Linfield Coll. drops "Animal House" image

[hoosier]

July 8, 2004

Crater grad cleans up wild frat


Linfield College student receives a medal from the McMinnville Police Department for effort
By JACI SCHNEIDER
Mail Tribune

McMINNVILLE — It was a dry year for Crater High School graduate Justin Samples, but it paid off big-time.

The Linfield College fraternity house where Samples lives was in October on its way to becoming the first McMinnville property to be boarded up as a public nuisance. The McMinnville Police Department was fed up responding to fights, noise complaints, underage drinking, alcohol poisoning, drug use and other problems, culminating in a property theft from a neighboring fraternity on Halloween.

Just seven months later, Samples received a citizen police medal for his work in purging the fraternity of its party image. He’s president of Linfield’s Theta Chi chapter and a former Crater wrestler and football player who graduated in 2001.

Theta Chi had always been notorious for being the "Animal House" of Greek life in the community, Samples said, referring to the 1978 movie filmed in Eugene that paints fraternity life as a nonstop party.

But with a new chronic-nuisance law enacted by McMinnville’s City Council, and the Linfield campus leaning toward a zero-tolerance alcohol policy, Theta Chi needed an extreme makeover.

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"Change had to happen," Samples said.

Theta Chi had planned to begin phasing out alcohol in the coming school year to meet requirements established by its national organization. But when things came to a head in October, Samples and Theta Chi adviser Buzz Stroud realized that the only way for the house to stay open was to ban alcohol immediately.

"It was make or break time," said Samples, who wrote a public letter of apology on behalf of the fraternity published in the campus newspaper last fall.

Most of his Theta Chi brothers understood, but the decision caused a small uprising.

"We didn’t have any room for error," Samples said. So the six members who wouldn’t comply were kicked out of the fraternity. "It was definitely the toughest part of my life."

Samples worried that the now-dry fraternity would suffer from a drought of pledges (prospective members). Instead, he says interest doubled after the transition.

"Alcohol-free actually became a selling point," Samples said.

Stroud said for students concerned with academics, an alcohol-free environment is appealing.

"We’d like to see people’s grades stay strong and make the most of their individual talents," he said.

As the fraternity adjusted to the changes, Samples met weekly with college administrators, fraternity leaders and McMinnville police Chief Wayne McFarlin.

"He was the leader in making a number of very difficult decisions," McFarlin said. "The Theta Chi fraternity had become a model of compliance and Justin a model of leadership in doing what’s right."

Instead of being known as the "party house," Theta Chi now holds risk-management seminars, addressing issues like sexual abuse and assault. And its members agreed to double their community service commitment to eight hours per semester per member.

"We’re trying to clean up the Greek (fraternity and sorority) system as a whole," Samples said, adding that "it’s inevitable" the entire campus soon will follow Theta Chi’s lead and go alcohol-free.

McFarlin agrees, and says Theta Chi and Samples have helped set an example at Linfield.

"Justin was instrumental in creating a new culture in frat row" he said, referring to the area where fraternity houses are grouped.

Samples’ award was only the second that McFarlin has bestowed in his four years in office.

"We’re really proud to be able to recognize his leadership," McFarlin said. "Justin has shown that what many believe is impossible is possible. He created a roadmap for success."

Samples will be the fraternity’s risk manager this fall, the beginning of his senior year studying personal finance and business.

"He has strength of character and respect," Stroud said. "He’ll be successful in whatever he does."

[AlphaPhiBubbles]

Interesting... I visited my best friends brother when he went to Linfield and I was still in high school...and we went to a "frat party" (dunno which one) but it didn't seem that rowdy. That plus I never heard from my friends brother or any of our other friends that it got bad. But good for Theta Chi - would have sucked for them to get shut down.

[Kevin]

That's great. I've heard a lot of folks here on GC that have mentioned their chapter was having simlar problems. The solution in the article might not work for everyone, but it's good to see someone that had success there.