Student Shot in Head During Noise Dispute
A Lehigh University male student was shot in the head by a man walking past his house who said he was being too loud, police said.
Michael Ritter, 22, was shot in the forehead by one of three men walking past his house early Sunday morning and rushed to the hospital.
One of his roommates said he had knock the gun from the man's hand before he ran off.
For Lehigh Sororities, Dreams of Mansion on The Hill
The vacant houses of two Lehigh University frats could become sorority houses as soon as next fall.
Earlier this year, Lehigh's chapters of Kappa Sigma and Alpha Chi Rho were forced out of their house by the university. Kappa Sigma is trying to appeal the decision with its national chapter, but the university has already approved Alpha Chi Omega to move into the former Crow house.
If the Kappa Sigs lose their appeal, the lovely ladies of Pi Beta Phi will moving in their house. Lehigh wants to diversify "The Hill" where mostly frats have lived in mansions capable of housing 50 brothers in the past.
Lehigh University Enacts 'Good Samaritan' PolicyIn an effort to encourage students to help their intoxicated friends, and exorcise the fear of facing punishment from the college if they are found to be drinking underage themselves, Lehigh University has implemented a "Good Samaritan" policy.
Under the new policy, students cannot be in any violation of Lehigh's conduct restrictions if they seek emergency attention for using alcohol of illegal drugs. Friends who assist others, if they are drunk or stoned, will also be free from getting in trouble with the campus.
Alpha Chi Rho to be first non-residential fraternity
After losing their house to Lehigh University's occupancy rule Alpha Chi Rho persevered, arranging housing for the fall 2007 at an off-campus location. Currently, the brothers are scattered amongst the various dormitories at Lehigh, but beginning fall of 2007, the Crows will be living in four adjacent off-campus houses.
Crow President-elect Trevor Salzmann, spoke out in the Brown and White article about the school's new methods of evicting fraternity's, by enforcing a 90% occupancy rate. The FratBoyNews expressed similar concerns, that the occupancy rule was simply Lehigh's systematic way of shutting down most or all of the fraternities on campus.
"Salzmann predicted Lehigh will see a developing trend of fraternities moving off the Hill in the next few years because of alcohol violation enforcement and fraternities not fulfilling the occupancy requirement.
“I think slowly it’s going to be choked to death,” Salzmann said.
Fraternities don’t fit into the university’s system, and as a result, there will soon be fewer and fewer fraternities, he said. Whether that’s good or bad, that’s how it will be, he said.
The university has a certain image as a top national university that it wants to maintain, promote and develop, Salzmann said.
“It’s a business,” he said. “And that’s their game plan.”
We couldn't have said it better ourselves. It's a terrifying trend that has emerged nationwide, and we've yet to see a fraternity or greek system successfully fight a determined anti-Greek administration.
Related:
Greek Numbers Down at Lehigh, Frat crackdown hurts recruitment
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
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 st
ands 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 Fr
atBoyNews 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
Despite Progress, Frat Loses Charter
The Lehigh Crows may have been kicked out of there house, but at least they still have their charter, something the university's chapter of Kappa Sigma can't say.
Here's a stunner - empty bottles of vodka were found in the Kappa Sigma party room last year. Although the frat had been recognized recently for their community work on campus, it wasn't enough for them to stay.
Kappa Sigma's national board voted to revoke the Lehigh chapter's charter, becoming the 2nd fraternity to be disbanded at the campus in as many weeks.
The brothers were told to be out of their house by next Friday.
Crow Fraternity Loses House
Lehigh Frat Loses Place to Hang its Hat
As reported last week here at the Frat Boy News, Lehigh's chapter of Alpha Chi Rho is getting booted out of their house.
As a follow to the story, the Crows did in fact get kicked out on Wednesday, becoming the first fraternity to be a victim of Lehigh's Greek occupancy rule. The 24 brothers failed to fill their house, and when they returned from winter break, found out they were being forced to move out. The university requires 90 percent occupancy, something Alpha Chi Rho hasn't been able to for the past 4 semesters.
''Lehigh's less fun,'' said Tyler Rock, the university's IFC president. ''It's like, 'What's Lehigh going to do now to reduce fun?'''
Check out a video, posted by the Morning Call made by the brothers here.
Crow Fraternity Loses Housing Privileges
Alpha Chi Rho at Lehigh University is being forced to move out of their house by Jan. 24.
The fraternity hasn't been able to reach the required 90 percent occupancy minimum. The Crows, who listed 4 students not actually in the fraternity as occupants, may face sanctions by the university for falsifying records.
Before taking a modeling gig that led to his casting on a TV show that went on to be one of the decade's most popular sitcoms, Ashton Kutcher lived it up as a Delta Chi brother at the University of Iowa.
