Drexel Delta Sigma Phi's Suspended for Talking Sh*t on Their Web Site

Alumni Members Suspend Drexel Fraternity Chapter

Drexel University's chapter of Delta Sigma Phi was placed on suspension by its own alumni after brothers were linked to posting sexually explicit pictures and comments girls on campus in a members-only section of the fraternity's Web site.

The chapter's alumni have told undergraduate brothers to move out of the fraternity's house and said they plan to work with a few of the brothers to reorganize the fraternity's future.

Oregon Kappa Delta Girls Strike Feud with Delta Sigma Phi

Delta Sigma Phi's Actions are Inconsiderate

In a letter to the editor of the University of Oregon's student newspaper, the brothers of Delta Sigma Phi fraternity were accused by the lovely ladies of Kappa Delta sorority as lacking a sufficient amount of support at the recent event, "Take Back the Night."

"We don't care if you didn't know Take Back The Night was occurring. Is this routine behavior for Delta Sigma Phi? Do you regularly embarrass yourselves by running through campus half naked with a Delta Sig flag?," the sisters wrote in the letter.

"The community gets one message," they continued writing, "Fraternity men do not support sexual assault awareness or survivors." The girls asked for the frat to send written letters of apology to

"The next time you choose to masquerade around campus wearing only spandex underwear and 'proudly' flapping a flag emblazoned with the Delta Sigma Phi's name, don't think we'll ever support you," the sisters concluded.

PSU SigPigs Educate Brothers on Alcohol

Frat Engages In Alcohol Education

As reported by Rossilynne Skena of the Penn State Daily Collegian:

Nearly 60 members of Delta Sigma Phi fraternity hung out at an event last night drinking pitchers of iced tea and water -- not pitchers of beer. In an effort to transform its reputation, Delta Sigma Phi hosted an alcohol training program at their house.

Four representatives from University Health Services spoke about consequences of drinking too much, alcohol myths and how to help drunken friends who need "baby-sitting."

"Basically our main goal is to make sure all of our members are educated ... familiar with the consequences ... making sure they're aware of what's going on around them, what's appropriate and what's expected of them," Delta Sigma Phi President Abe Gitterman said.

Last spring Delta Sigma Phi was "totally shut down," Gitterman said. There were reports of a hazing incident, although charges were ultimately not filed by The State College Police Department. This fall, the fraternity was allowed back in the house, but were required to have a dry semester.

Now Delta Sigma Phi is back on normal status, Gitterman said. In the first semester back to normal, "It's just a matter of being ready. This will be one of the first steps we will take for that," he said.

The event wasn't to tell fraternity members they have to stop drinking entirely; instead, it was about "how to manage yourself responsibly," Gitterman said.

Greek Numbers Down at Lehigh, Frat crackdown hurts recruitment

Fraternity Bids Down, Greek Hopes Still High

Campus administrators have tried to put a positive spin on it, but the fact stands: Numbers are down for Lehigh rush.

The Brown and White, Lehigh's student newspaper reported that 238 men accepted their bids this year versus approximately 293 last year, a nearly 19% decrease.

“Numbers are down this year, but not when you average it out among the chapters,” said Tim Wilkinson, assistant dean of students for fraternity and sorority affairs.

Wilkinson is referring to the average number of new recruits per chapter, which stands at 13.1. This same measurement came in at 13.9 per chapter last year, representing a 5.8% decrease.

Most blame the poor recruitment on the crackdown on fraternities that has resulted in Alpha Chi Rho losing their house and Kappa Sigma losing their charter. The Hill, where most of the Greek housing is located, has also seen an increase police presence.

While the FratBoyNews does not deal in conspiracy theory's, we are wary that Lehigh, under the leadership of their new President is undertaking an anti-Greek stance. These low recruitment levels will likely trigger new evictions under their Greek occupancy rule, which requires a 90% occupancy level for Greek organizations to keep a house on campus. This is how Alpha Chi Rho came to be without a house.

It's a chilling time line: August 2006 a new President takes office at Lehigh, six months later, two fraternities are gone, police now patrol fraternity hill, and recruitment is down. Is Lehigh attempting to "thin out" the Greek population?

Related:
Lehigh Crows Can't Fill House, Must Leave by Jan. 24
Lehigh Crows Taking Traditional Frat Boy Approach to Problem Solving
Kappa Sigs Gone at Lehigh

A Toast To Double Standards

The Frat Boy News Daily College Column
By Chelsea Jo Simpson, staff columnist, The University of Arizona's Daily Wildcat

Congratulations, UA. You can drink yourselves senseless, pass out in the middle of the street and wait for the police department to come by. And when they do, go ahead and mutter any combination of Greek letters that you can think of. If you get "pi" in there, that's five fraternities. So drink up, and don't you worry about it - Greek Life will take the heat.

Last week, the Daily Wildcat ran the article titled "Seven fraternities, one sorority on probation for alcohol violations," listing the greek organizations that were supposedly under probation and the duration of the probation. If the student body is so interested in the alcoholic consumption of students and the ramifications they face for it, why don't we go ahead and list the sports teams, residence halls and clubs on campus who have any alcohol violations?

And while we're at it, let's just turn the front page into a weekly list of all students who are cited for minors in possession, their major and how long they have to pay their fine.

I really don't understand the utter fascination with Greek Life that provokes such constant scrutiny. Fraternities and sororities are constantly being watched; it's as if everyone is waiting for them to mess up. And let's be honest, this is college: Students are going to mess up regardless of whether or not they have Greek letters across their chest.

I'm not saying that fraternities should be free of all responsibility, but they aren't the root cause of the downfall of society, either. And more importantly, they are not responsible for the individual choices of students. If a student drinks himself - or herself - unconscious, whose fault is that?

Blaming the fraternity doesn't make sense, unless of course that's what we're looking for: someone to blame. And naturally, Greek Life will be called the cause of alcohol issues on campus. Because everyone knows that there are never any house parties and students certainly don't drink in their dorms.

Students, greek or not, make their own choice to drink or not. Students need to take responsibility for their own drinking, and stop blaming it on the easiest target. And yes, there have to be rules, regulations and repercussions to protect the students, the university and the individual chapters. But in the scheme of things, fraternities and sororities are probably a safer place to do what students are going to do anyway. Fraternities aren't doing anything different from non-greek students; they're just doing it on a larger scale with many more restrictions and much larger consequences.

And as far as getting comments from greeks, it's important to know that the president is the one designated to release information to the media, or to make any official statements. So when the article says "Officials from all seven fraternities declined to comment," one would assume that the each president was contacted and refused to comment. Neither of the presidents of the two fraternities that were specifically cited within the article were asked to comment before the article ran, according to the presidents of Sigma Phi Epsilon and Pi Kappa Phi.

"I never declined to comment. Personally it made me look like I had something to hide," said the Sigma Phi president.

I have contacted half of the presidents of the fraternities and sorority that were on the list, all of which were more than happy to talk to me; after all, that's their job. But members are not "officials," and they typically cannot provide any information. If a comment is warranted, talk to the president.

Like it or not, Greek Life is a huge part of this campus. And like it or not, they will be blamed and held responsible under any and all circumstances. Cheers, UA!

Chelsea Jo Simpson is a sophomore journalism major at the University of Arizona. She is also a sister of Chi Omega and a staff columnist for The Wildcat Online. Email her at letters@wildcat.arizona.edu.

Delta Sigs Struggling at Duke

Struggling Delta Sig May Move Off Campus

"You have been selected to become a member of Delta Sigma, Duke's latest off-campus fraternity. Some of you receiving this e-mail have been in Delta Sigma for a while now so this is nothing new; for others of you, consider this your bid to join," read an e-mail the fraternity's potential new brothers.

Delta Sigma Phi is one of Duke University's many social organizations that have taken a hit because of the controversial lacrosse scandal last year. In the past, the fraternity has been very successful in rush each year.

"Historically they've had a really good reputation, and they have been really selective," said freshman Joe Luchs, who declined a bid from Delta Sig. "They weren't just going to take anyone, even when it came down to the last rounds and they maybe weren't getting the class they thought they were going to get."

Many students on the campus believed Delta Sigma Phi sort of half-heartedly rushed this year.

"A lot of frats put on a show during rush, and Delta Sig sort of acted like they normally do," Luchs said. "It's a good thing they don't try to create an illusion, but you really had to put yourself out there to make them approachable."

"It's really strange," said Joe Repp, a Duke freshman who declined a bid from Delta Sig. "[Their rush] was good. Some of the older brothers really reached out to me, and I clicked with a lot of them.

The fraternity has yet to approach the office of student life concerning the issue, a report said. The report also said the fraternity only had 5 students interested in taking bids this spring.

Ball State Gets First New Frat in 8 Years

Fraternity Joins BSU Greek Community

There's a new frat at Ball State, and its the university's first in 8 years. In an effort to increase interest in Greek life, the campus added Delta Sigma Phi to its group of fraternites.

"This also challenges current fraternities in a healthy way and can breathe new life into the community," said Cara Luyster, the school's director of student life.

The university said Delta Sigma Phi will be looking for students who have a dream of someday starting their own business to become young leaders in the frat.

"Unlike other chapters that do events at their houses, we recruit on a more personal basis," he said. "We take them out to dinner and get to know them. We are just trying to add a fresh face to the Greek community, said Ben Breunig, the fraternity's national expansion director."

Frat Party XLI

It's that time of year again and everyone's favorite excuse to get drunk on a Sunday. Rex Grossman and the Chicago Bears will meet Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts in today's Super Bowl.

Frat guys everywhere, but particularly in the states of Illinois and Indiana will be celebrating like none other today, as their coveted NFL franchises will be playing in the big game. Party hard, but be safe. Enjoy the pre-game, game, and post-game.

For your viewing enjoyment, we here at the Frat Boy News have compiled a list of "Frat Guys" playing in today's game.

Chicago Bears:

• Brian Griese, QB, Phi Gamma Delta, University of Michigan.
• Kyle Orton, QB, Pi Kappa Alpha, Purdue University
• Mark Anderson, DE, Omega Psi Phi, University of Alabama
• Alex Brown, DE, Phi Beta Sigma, University of Florida

Indianapolis Colts:

• Marvin Harrison, WR, Delta Sigma Phi, Syracuse University
• Robert Mathis, DE, Omega Psi Phi, Alabama A&M University
  
• Jason David, CB, Omega Psi Phi, Washington State University
  

Sig Pig Headed to Super Bowl

Frat Guy of the Week: Marvin Harrison

Marvin Harrison will be heading to the Super Bowl alongside Peyton Manning for the first time in February.

As a brother of Delta Sigma Phi's Syracuse chapter, Harrison was a star wideout drafted by the NFL's Indianapolis Colts.

He has since become a favorite target of Manning and holds several NFL receiving records.