Sigma Chi fraternity, once booted from campus, returns

After having its charter revoked amid scandal in December 2001, the Sigma Chi fraternity returned to the campus yesterday.

The Gamma Chi chapter of the fraternity initiated its first 45 members Sunday and followed it with an elaborate banquet. About 220 people attended the event, including Sigma Chi alums House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) and university President Dan Mote.

Both Hoyer and Mote acknowledged the fraternity had a checkered past on campus but focused on the future.

"When Sigma Chi lost its charter, rightfully so, it was our fault — I think many of us were very, very sorry that it happened that way," said Hoyer, who pledged while he was in undergraduate at the university. "Our chapter was not meeting their responsibilities. I personally think that some of our alums were not meeting their responsibilities."

Sunday's ceremony was the culmination of 18 months of work by alumni and students, going through several petitions and applications before getting the approval of the university, the Interfraternity Council and finally the national Sigma Chi organization.

"The process is horribly arduous and painful," said member Ryan Brown, a junior supply chain management major.

The organization, which boasts alumni ranging from Hollywood icon John Wayne (USC, class of 1929) to former Chicago Bears head coach Mike Ditka (Pittsburgh, 1961), hit rocky times at the university in the late '90s and struggled to recover until now.

In October 1999, the fraternity was almost evicted from its house after inspectors found more than 80 housing and fire code violations. At the time, Public Services Director Bob Ryan said the house, which now stands boarded up and abandoned on the 4600 block of Norwich Road, "was not fit for human habitation." The next semester, the fraternity was put on probation for "hazing-related offenses" when they were discovered participating in "skip-outs," in which pledges and members kidnap each other.

Finally, in December 2001, the fraternity's charter was revoked by the national organization for what officials at yesterday's event said were academic reasons.

"Having a good time is part of being a college, part of Greek life, but that ought not to be its principal focus," Hoyer said. "But what happened is, frankly, we lost focus. ... Hopefully we will learn from that."

The attitude at the banquet, however, was not apologetic — Sigma Chi alumni from as far away as Japan and as old as the class of 1938 repeatedly asserted that the values of the organization are what will carry the new chapter to success. The chapter also received an anonymous $100,000 donation earmarked specifically for leadership training, Brown said.

Mote said he wasn't involved in bringing the chapter back, but that Hoyer had been active in the efforts. Brown said Hoyer wasn't directly involved in the ample procedural requirements but helped in other ways.

"[Hoyer has] been more of a behind-the-scenes supporter," Brown said. "He does a lot of work with our alumni. I couldn't tell you for certain if he goes and pulls strings, but our alumni tell us about lunches they've had with him. He's been really terrific to us."

Mote, despite his desire to not get involved, has a long history with the fraternity. Mote was the president of the University of California, Berkeley chapter of Sigma Chi chapter as an undergraduate. He said he also has four nephews in Sigma Chi, including one who was in the university chapter that was booted in 2001.

"The fraternity and sorority system on campus is very important," Mote said. "They're very committed to community service and leadership. ... It was also necessary that [Sigma Chi] stay out for a while."

High-ranking officials in the national Sigma Chi organization said it was time for the chapter to return.

"We grant a charter when we find a group of young men who will carry out the high ideals of Sigma Chi," said Wayne Tucker, the international president of Sigma Chi.

The next step, Brown added, is to talk to the city about how to get their old house back, which the organization still owns, out of legislative limbo — the fraternity claims the house is "beyond renovation," but city officials say demolishing the home would harm the area's historic character.

The house was boarded up and is considered an eyesore by many in the area, especially after a fire destroyed the house's basement and did damage to the rest of the structure in 2007. Until a resolution is reached, Brown said the fraternity will remain at its rented house at 4607 Knox Road.

rabdill@umdbk.com