A fraternity recently put on academic sanctions for having alcohol and hosting a drinking game at a registered chapter event now faces academic sanctions.
Delta Tau Delta is among other greek organizations on campus that have been placed on probation for violating the Risk Management Checklist. Last semester, the fraternity was placed on probation for possessing mass amounts of alcohol. Now they're trying to get things back on track.
"We had our problems," Delta Tau Delta President Michael Ely said. "We used our resources to take care of the issues we had. Our main goal [is that we] want to move forward, build for the future. That includes things like getting back to our values, building on recruitment, improving academically and just being there to help the Ball State community and to be a resource for everyone."
The chapter was put on probation for one calendar year, effective Feb. 23, after violations of the Risk Management Checklist during the Fall Semester and at a Jan. 29 social event.
The administrative sanctions against the fraternity include no more events with alcohol at chapter facilities; an accountability mechanism, which means there is a person responsible to make sure all rules are being followed; and the coordination of events that are positive for the chapter, such as the mandatory cooperation between alumni, members and the chapter to develop a strategic plan to address the cultural issues that will impede chapter growth and values.
Other sanctions are a comprehensive plan that focuses on recruitment, retention, membership development and reworked standards; the president must meet biweekly with Assistant Director of Student Life Brandon Cutler to discuss operations and how the strategic plan is going.
If the chapter is found in violation of any other rules, there is a possibility of its recognition by the university being revoked.
The sanction also encourages chapters to take a look at some of their members and whether their standards are living up to the organization's standards. However, the administration is not forcing the members to complete this step — it is just a suggestion.
Delta Tau Delta has about 73 members, according to the Fall 2010 Fraternity and Sorority Life Report. The fraternity will decide how many members it might eliminate and it hopes to have a decision in the near future.
At a registered chapter event on Jan. 29 there was a mass quantity of alcohol and a drinking game, both of which are prohibited by the risk management policy.
"A mass quantity of alcohol can be anything from a keg to jungle juice. What this was was a bucket of some sort of punch mixed with hard alcohol and there was also a drinking game present," Cutler said. "Those aspects are the biggest two things, because they encourage the consumption of alcohol at a faster rate than they normally would be consumed."
Last semester, Delta Tau Delta was given one month of restrictive probation due to mass quantities of alcohol. This included no social events with alcohol present. They were required one year of non-restrictive probation or a probation period that allows the chapter to still participate in greek events. At the time the former president was required to meet with Cutler to discuss the chapter's status.
The plan to improve on the chapter so far includes focusing on philanthropies, academics and recruitment, Ely said. He said he has no doubt in his fraternity, his brothers and their new commitment to becoming a dry fraternity.
"We will definitely be here [next year]," Ely said. "We have the right guys within our chapter and we are going to take strides to improve our organization to the point where we won't have to worry about the issues we had before.
"I think those are in the past and there is no point in focusing on the past. It's time to focus on the future and it's time to move forward."
Cutler said the chapter is hoping to improve on every area of its organization, and the elimination of alcohol in the chapter house will help tremendously.
"What Delta is trying to do [is] they want to create an environment to perform at a high level in all of their areas. The fraternity experience is about doing well academically, being involved on campus and developing the leadership skills to be successful," he said. "There is a strong correlation between academic performance and alcohol consumption. That is something every student can benefit from. Focusing on the holistic development of the student is the main focus for fraternities and sororities. They have been put in a tough position and they are doing everything in their power to see something positive result from it."
However, the Delts are not the only fraternity on campus that have been under administrative sanctions this school year because of violations.
Sigma Chi had an incident during the Fall Semester where there was an allegation of consumption and bulk quantity of alcohol. Someone had too much to drink and went back to the residence halls. That was a situation where the chapter was adjudicated. They completed their sanctions in February.
There was another situation with Phi Sigma Kappa in October, in which the chapter was adjudicated because there were too many guests at the chapter house. Each chapter is allowed one guest per chapter member only. Guests also need to pre-register for the event. They cannot simply show up and be added on the guest list.
Phi Sigma Kappa has also completed the academic sanction requirements.
Greek life members at Ball State are provided with risk management training and a 24-page policy to ensure the community is safe. There is also a Social Evaluation Team in place, which is a program to ensure a safe environment for the community and report on the findings of each checklist evaluation.
Parts of the checklist include making sure guests age 21 and older are marked with an X or wristband, utilizing a printed sign-in sheet, checking IDs and making sure there is one sober monitor per 15 guests in the house, among other rules.
Even with the challenges Delta Tau Delta has been facing in the last few months, they were still able to launch a new philanthropy event called Army Games. This year was the first year for the event and the fraternity was able to raise about $1,600 for Indianapolis Veteran Affairs Medical Center.
Since Fall 2007, greek life at Ball State has increased by about 20 percent, Cutler said. The number of Ball State students involved in greek life is inching towards 9 percent. The average chapter size is up, and Cutler expects almost 100 percent growth in the National Panhellenic Council from last fall to the end of this Spring.
There are four fraternities on campus that are dry: Delta Tau Delta, Phi Gamma Delta, Phi Delta Theta and Theta Chi.
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