USC

Media Coverage: University of Southern California | Alpha Upsilon Chapter

Michael Church <Michael.Church@sigmachi.org>

To:

• Michael Church

Tue 8/16/2022 10:20 AM

Brothers of the Grand Council,

Since I have fielded inquiries yesterday and today from many different areas of the Fraternity, I’m writing to you to provide a status report regarding some media coverage (which you have likely already seen) that broke over the weekend since it will surely be a topic of conversation in some circles you may interact with (if it isn’t already). If you haven’t yet seen the coverage, here is the link: Six USC fraternities disaffiliate due to school's party rules - Los Angeles Times (latimes.com).

What you really need to know:

1. The University of Southern California’s treatment of fraternities and the members of those organizations over the last several years has created an environment where being a recognized fraternity has far more disadvantages than benefits.

2. USC’s actions have led to a deterioration of the relationship between fraternities and the university and, in response, 8 fraternities (so far) have moved to an unrecognized posture and have created an interfraternity council completely independent of USC.

3. Moving to an unrecognized situation is NOT, as USC and the media would have you believe, a reaction to avoid restrictions on “party rules.” Below are additional details.

4. Fraternities at USC are now more focused on working together collaboratively, more attentive to self-governance, and prepared to focus on health and safety.

Before going any further, it’s important to acknowledge that this is not the preferred outcome that Sigma Chi would have hoped to see but, rather, is the result of being placed in the undesirable position of choosing between advocating for and defending ourselves as fraternity men and maintaining strong partnerships with the institutions where we operate our active chapters. It is always desirable to have both but, when that is not a reality, tough choices get made.

High-level background:

• The cause:

  • Early in the fall of 2021 semester a series of anonymous allegations were filed with the university’s Title IX office alleging that individual members of five fraternities (Sigma Chi was not one of them) had engaged in sexual assault/misconduct or drugging.

• The university response:

  • Amid media and student body pressure, the university “coached” the IFC to suspend “all social events” for their member fraternities and the IFC responded accordingly. The university then broadened that definition to stipulate that “all social events” essentially encompassed all operations of fraternities (since fraternities by their nature are social organizations) – even those of fraternities which had done nothing wrong and had no allegations filed against any of their members – while it launched a “task force” to announce a set of enhancements for the governance of fraternities.

  • After nearly 100 days of a campus-wide suspension on fraternities, the university released a set of requirements for the members of those fraternities in good standing to complete before they could re-engage in their normal business. These requirements were possible but onerous. However, as the members set off to complete those requirements, the university’s infrastructure could not support all of the students being able to complete the requirements which effectively resulted in a de-facto continuation of the suspension of operations until the situation could be sorted out. Again, these additional onerous requirements were placed on fraternities which had no allegations or complaints of any kind filed against them or any of their members.

  • Eventually, the university released additional requirements for all fraternity men to complete on an ongoing basis in future years. The media has predictably covered only those which fit the narrative they desire to push.

• Related factors:

  • In 2018, against the advice of its students and alumni, USC announced a deferred recruitment policy (students cannot join fraternities until they have 12 credit hours completed). Since that time, interest in fraternities from students has declined.

  • Those five fraternities which had individual members have allegations of sexual assault/misconduct against them? Most are still on suspension. Because individuals in the chapter are alleged to have committed sexual assault/misconduct. To summarize, that’s 10 months of complete suspension for all members of five fraternities while the office of Title IX investigated allegations against a small number of individual members. While no public announcements have been made about any of the cases, we believe all five cases will eventually end with a finding of “not responsible.”

What has happened/is happening:

• North American Interfraternity Conference:

  • The NIC publishes a series of position statements that its member organizations agree to support. As a member of the NIC, Sigma Chi supports these position statements. USC violated at least three of them:

    • System-wide actions

    • Organizational conduct adjudication

    • Recruitment

  • Dating back to fall 2021, the North American Interfraternity Conference has coached and supported the member organizations through the negotiations and advocacy with the institution. Regrettably, the institution did not relent on any of its stated directives, even when told that failing to work in a cooperative manner would end with fraternities releasing their recognition. Member organizations (Sigma Chi being one of them) were forced to either accept the violation of our position statements or act accordingly.

  • See the NIC’s statement on the situation here: https://nicfraternity.org/statement-regarding-formation-of-university-park-interfraternity-council/

  • The NIC has supported its member organizations in establishing a new IFC, rooted in best practices and meeting the needs of its member chapters.

• Interfraternity Council (IFC)

  • Currently, 8 fraternities on campus have resigned their recognized status with USC and have joined together to create an Interfraternity Council that is independent of USC. This organization is called the University Park IFC. See their website (which contains their statement on the situation) here: University Park IFC - University Park IFC.

  • We have reason to believe that more fraternities will join the UPIFC as time goes on and the ongoing investigations eventually conclude. In time, we believe most fraternities will release recognition from USC and join the UPIFC, ensuring a stronger and cohesive fraternity community.

• Sigma Chi

  • The Alpha Upsilon chapter’s website contains a statement directed to interested Sigma Chi alumni. See here: SIGMA CHI AT USC | Trojan Sigs (uscsigmachi.org)

  • Sigma Chi’s governance requires that chapters which desire to operate independent of university recognition receive the support of the Executive Committee to do so. At the chapter’s request, the EC reviewed this matter over a period of two separate meetings and, after very thoughtful review, has determined that the situation on the campus merited the action, there is adequate support from the NIC, there is adequate support of interfraternalism on the campus, Sigma Chi alumni are broadly supportive of the action and the continued and enhanced support of the chapter, and the risk of chapter performance decreasing is minimal.

  • We will continue to monitor closely and support our chapter through this difficult time.

  • Finally, we are grateful to the leadership of the chapter, the alumni advisors, and Grand Praetor Harry Palmer, for their ongoing and enhanced support of the chapter.

IHSV,

Mike

______________________________________________

Michael J. Church

Executive Director

Sigma Chi Fraternity International Headquarters

1714 Hinman Avenue

Evanston, Illinois 60201

direct: (847) 425-4469

fax: (847) 869-4906

Michael.Church@sigmachi.org

http://www.sigmachi.org

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