Twitter
Facebook
Reddit
Digg
Tell us what you think!Send a letter to the editor about this or any other article in The Maine Campus.
On Friday, University of Maine Student Affairs handed down its recommendations regarding the Sigma Chi fraternity following the investigation of its initiation process, during which a student went missing for more than eight hours April 17.
According to a report issued by UMaine, sanction recommendations include placing Sigma Chi on disciplinary probation until June of 2011, exiling the fraternity from the Heritage House until at least next semester and forcing the brothers to review the Pledge Education Program with the help of their national office and university administration.
The most bizarre suggestion is forcing Sigma Chi — found guilty of hazing its initiates — to develop an education program instructing other Greek organizations on how to avoid hazing their pledges.
The full report of the Sigma Chi’s indiscretions does not seem to reveal anything egregious. It lists violations such as requiring prospective members to learn fraternity-related information and wear ties and sports coats when full members did not have a similar requirement.
Sigma Chi’s one major strike is the much-publicized incident involving would-be member Joshua Gilmore, who went missing on the morning of April 17 and was found eight hours later. According to the report, Gilmore’s disappearance was due to a misunderstanding: He was told to be back at 5:47 a.m. — he heard 9:47. Thinking he had four hours to complete a task actually meant to last three minutes, Gilmore went far beyond the intended boundaries and later became hypothermic and confused.
The fraternity’s initiation practices do constitute hazing according to university policy and deserve punishment. However, one could not be faulted for thinking Sigma Chi’s list of infractions would have likely merited far less severe consequences if the accident involving Gilmore had not occurred, making Student Affairs’ actions look less like objective retribution and more like a public relations move.
In order to avoid this appearance, the university has no choice: It must conduct an investigation of all Greek organizations, utilizing the same thorough eye and comparable penalties if any violations are found.
If administrators truly care more about stamping out hazing than merely having the appearance of having done so, then they are far from congratulating themselves on a job well done.
Bangor Daily News