The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current, February 18, 1999, Page 8, Image 8

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    If Figure out
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morining I
Fraternity faces
heavy sanctions
SANCTIONS from page 1
Nick Hatfield, a mechanical engi
neering junior, was elected interim
president of the fraternity. He said the
fraternity’s attitude was positive, and
members who were forced out harbor
few hard feelings.
“They wanted what’s best for the
fraternity,” Hatfield said.
After losing half its membership,
the house GPA rose and the house got
cleaner, he said. The house also
declared itself a dry fraternity, joining
10 others on the UNL campus.
A long road lies ahead of those
quick improvements.
Official reparations with the uni
versity began Monday evening when
the members met with Griesen and
Linda Schwartzkopf, director of UNL
Greek Affairs.
The two administrators presented
the dozen proposed sanctions to mem
bers at that time. The University
Judicial Board had approved the sanc
tions at a 5:30 meeting that day.
The positive Chi Phi response - one
of commitment to change - impressed
the administrators.
“I was more buoyed by that meeting
than at any other time in my HVi years
as vice chancellor for student affairs,”
Griesen said.
lhe fraternity members agreed to
the following sanctions:
■ Members will remain on conduct
. probation through May 2001, during
which any major code-of-conduct vio
lation will be handled by the Judicial
Board.
■ The house must complete a
membership review.
■ A university-employed graduate
assistant must live in the house, monitor
fraternity compliance with the student
code of conduct and advise chapter
members until May 2001.
■ All major house officers must be
appointed by the chapter’s alumni board
until December 1999.
■ New officers must attend a
mandatory officer retreat within two
weeks of their appointment.
■ Second-semester freshmen and
first-semester sophomores must active
ly serve on one or more chapter com
mittees to strengthen house leadership.
■ All Chi Phi pledge candidates
and their parents must be told of the
house’s pairt code-of-conduct violations
and sanctions until May 2001.
■ House officers must undergo a
performance review at the aid of each
semester.
■ The house must have its detailed
social calendar approved by Charles
Green, director of judicial affairs, and
by its alumni board. At social events,
chapter funds cannot be used to pur
chase alcohol. Alcohol at any event
< must be provided by a licensed bever
age caterer and consumed only by
members aged 21 or older.
Griesen said Tuesday that alcohol
wasn’t prohibited at off-campus frater
nity functions, but fraternities must
abide by local and state serving laws.
■ Before May 1, each Chi Phi
it
I expect some
(community) backlash,
but it comes with an
incident like this....”
Rick Blessen
president, Chi Phi Club of Nebraska
pledge and active member must com
plete the Alcohol Skills Training
Program offered by the University
Health Center and must pay the regis
tration fee. All new Chi Phi members
through May 2001 must also complete
the program.
■ The chapter must sponsor or co
sponsor a risk management education
program open to all UNL greek chap
ters once each year through 2001.
■ The fraternity’s behavior will be
evaluated in April and in December by
Gnesen, Schwartzkopf, Green, chapter
officers and chapter alumni.
Although the sanctions are severe,
the fraternity is grateful for the chance
to stay on campus, said Rick Blessen,
president of the Chi Phi Club of
Nebraska, die chapter’s alumni associa
tion.
“I expect some (community) back
lash, but it comes with an incident like
this,” he said. “I expect the men of the
chapter to ride it out and prove any
naysayers wrong.”
With half its usual members paying
dues and rent, the chapter also will ride
out a grim financial situation, but alum
ni have pledged to support the house
with financial and moral advice.
“Nobody really likes the idea of los
ing their home,” Blessen said. “That’s
how the alumni feel.”
Alumni took members on a retreat
Saturday to discuss chapter reform.
Alumni will continue to stress
scholastics to the chapter first, followed
by the importance of being upstanding
university and community members, he
said.
Schwartzkopf said strong alumni
support was a major factor in the uni
versity deciding to sanction the chapter
and to allow it to rebuild.
Griesen said he had asked die fra
ternity’s national office, whose sanc
tions of Chi Phi members are still pend
ing, to go along with the university’s
sanctions and not heap many other
restrictions on the men.
National Chi Phi officials had dis
cussed limiting the men to one party a
semester, among other restrictions.
But Griesen said a healthy social
calendar would help Chi Phi rebuild
and become one of the strongest houses
in die greek system - a system whose
members excel in volunteer work and
campus leadership. The greek system
also has the highest retention rate of any
campus organization, he said.
“We want strong greek houses on
the campus, and we want to see Chi Phi
grow and prosper here.”
Pulliam Journalism Fellowships
Graduating college seniors are invited to apply for the 26th annual
Pulliam Journalism Fellowships. We will grant 10-week summer
internships to 20 journalism or liberal arts majors in the August 1998
June 1999 graduating classes.
Previous internship or part-time experience at a newspaper is desired.
Winners will receive a $5,250 stipend and will work at either The
Indianapolis Star and The Indianapolis News or The Arizona
Republic."
Entries must be postmarked by March 1,1999.
To request an application packet, write: Russell B. Pulliam
Fellowships Director
- The Indianapolis News
P.O. Box 145
—-^t^^^^^^^^v^^^^^|_MJndbMia£olis;|INM46206-0145[^
Alumni
grant aids
students
■ Enhancement fund
supports events to
improve campus life.
By Kelli Lacey
Staff writer
Last year, the Eating Disorders
Awareness and Prevention Club was
able to sponsor only one event pro
moting itself because of lack of
funds.
Now, thanks to a grant given to
the group by the Student Alumni
Association, the club will sponsor
several days of activities in their
“Celebrate Every Body Week.”
“SAA made it possible for the
events to occur next week,” co-coor
dinator Linda Schweer said.The
Nebraska Alumni Association gave
$25,000 to the Student Alumni
Association last August, which will
be used to enhance all aspects of stu
dent life on campus, said Tom
Heacock, committee chairman for
the SAA fund.
The grant, known as the Student
Enhancement Fund, is distributed to
organizations on campus wanting or
needing money to sponsor events
that could benefit students’ lives.
At least half of the fund will be
given to groups that promote diver
sity, Heacock said.
For example, the SAA donated
money to help bring a diversity
speaker to the University of
Nebraska-Lincoln last October dur
ing Homecoming week.
“The important diversity issues
need to be addressed,” he said.
If die alumni association has the
funds, the SAA would receive the
same amount of money each school
year to better the university, said
QKallm; 7aKr*tvwirel''i Hirpr'fnr nf ofii_
dent programs for the Nebraska
Alumni Association.
She said that the student alumni
association had the leadership abili
ty to make a difference with the
enhancement fund.
“We wanted to give students the
power to help other students,”
Zaborowski said. ‘We want to touch
a lot of students because they are our
future alumni.”
The purpose of the SAA is to
work with the Nebraska Alumni
Association to encourage people to
become members of the group once
they leave the university, Heacock
said. .
He said the fund has already
been used to give $7,000 to the
Association of Students of the
University of Nebraska.
The group is now taking appeals
from organizations that need help
funding an event. Applications are
available at die Wick Alumni Center,
1520 R St
This semester, the SAA will
grant money to two more events, yet
to be chosen.
A week after the application is
turned in, the organization request
ing the money must present its
event’s objectives to the SAA.
The deadline for the first sum of
money to be divvied out to an orga
nization is March 11. That group of
applicants would give presentations
to the SAA on March 25.
The second deadline is April 15,
with presentations following April
26.
Heacock said he encouraged
students involved in organizations to
apply for money for their coming
events.
“Right now, we are trying to
, increase awareness about the fund,”
Heacock said. “Through the fund,
our goal is to benefit the campus and
make it a better place for students.”