The fraternities with members involved in Operation Ivy League—Alpha Epsilon Pi, Pi Kappa Alpha, Psi Upsilon—will lose their housing come next fall, according to Spec. A source in Pike says that Kevin Shollenberger confirmed to the fraternity today that its brownstone will be emptied in the Fall; members of the other frats have said the same.

We’ve contacted the Student Affairs Office and the IGC, and (update) the IRC for comment—stay tuned for updates.

Update (11:28) Student Affairs has released a statement regarding the fraternities. It confirms the three frats will face sanctions, including revocation of Columbia University housing, extended social probation until Fall 2011, and probationary recognition. The probationary status will be reviewed annually for three years, and fraternities will be expected to demonstrate significant progress.

Three years!

Update (12:22) The InterGreek Council has released a statement. Some hightlights:

  • The reviews of each individual fraternity were conducted by reflecting on the chapter as a whole and not solely on the basis of the actions of the individuals involved in the NYPD “Operation Ivy League” investigation.
  • The University will not conduct the judicial procedures for those individuals involved until outside proceedings are completed. The University will not announce those internal proceedings as they begin, in accordance with federal privacy laws regarding student information.
  • The chapters will vacate their houses following the end of the Spring 2011 semester.  An application to occupy the three brownstones in question will be released in Fall 2012, and will take into effect in Fall 2013.  Criteria for this application have not been determined. In the meantime, the Office of Residential Programs will fill those rooms at their discretion.

We’ve included the full statement after the jump, but beware, it’s pretty lengthy!

“In December, the Division of Student Affairs announced it would begin a review of the fraternities and special interest community that had members arrested in the NYPD drug arrests that took place on campus on December 7, 2010. Although prompted by this specific incident, the review was intended to provide a comprehensive analysis of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity, the Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity, the Psi Upsilon fraternity, and the Intercultural Resource Center (IRC) in all aspects of their operations since 2007. To this end and over the past several weeks, Student Affairs collected information including but not limited to a history of service and philanthropic activities, evidence of contributions to the greater community, Greek Judicial board records,  academic and judicial records, and prior incident reports. We engaged with individual students, student leaders, chapter membership, and residents to learn more about each organization’s shared values, mission, and commitment to giving back to the Columbia community.

Throughout the review, it was always our goal to render a fair, impartial decision based on the feedback and information gathered as part of this comprehensive process.

After concluding our assessment, we determined that each of the three fraternities will face sanctions to include revocation of Columbia University housing, extended social probation until Fall 2011, and probationary recognition. The probationary status will be reviewed annually for three years, and fraternities will be expected to demonstrate significant progress.

Each fraternity is also required to submit and subsequently adhere to a three-year action plan for improvement. We have encouraged the fraternities to work with their advisers to help them better their standing within the Columbia University community and work toward exemplifying the core values and standards of their national chapters. Based on the chapters’ records and the information we collected, we are confident this decision is in the best interest of our community and of the fraternities themselves.

Student Affairs is committed to building and sustaining a campus community in which students’ health and well-being are protected and individual students and organizations are held to the highest standards. In our effort to strengthen and better support our fraternity and sorority community, we plan to extend this review process to all fraternities and sororities and look forward to working with students to examine and better define the role of this community on Columbia’s campus. We will use these ongoing conversations as an opportunity to further educate students about how they can be a positive influence on our community and their peers, and operate in the spirit of their national chapters.”

OFFICIAL STATEMENT FROM THE INTERGREEK COUNCIL

MARCH 8, 2011

After conducting an individual, comprehensive review of each of the three fraternities placed on suspension in December 2010, Dean Martinez, Dean of Community Development, and Dean Shollenberger, Associate Dean of Student Development and Activities, have made a final decision regarding the status of those fraternities.

Dean Martinez and Dean Shollenberger met tonight with the presidents of Alpha Epsilon Pi, Pi Kappa Alpha, and Psi Upsilon. After sharing their decision with the presidents of the individual chapters, Dean Martinez and Dean Schollenberger then shared their decision with the InterGreek Council (IGC) Executive Board for the first time.

Alpha Epsilon Pi, Pi Kappa Alpha, and Psi Upsilon have all been placed on 3-year probationary recognition, to be reviewed annually.  In addition, each chapter has had their social suspension extended to the end of Spring 2011 and they have lost their housing privileges effective Fall 2011.  In fulfilling the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life’s ALPHA Standards of Recognition, which is required of all Greek chapters to be considered in good standing, the IGC firmly believes that these three chapters will be able to meet the standards of their annual reviews.

Dean Martinez, Dean Shollenberger, the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life, and the IGC are all firmly committed to seeing these chapters succeed on the Columbia University campus. This is a time for the Greek community to come together and support each other in upholding our shared values and the IGC will continue to assist these chapters with their programming, development, and activities.

The IGC has provided answers to anticipated questions. We have provided as much information as we can while maintaining the integrity of the judicial process at Columbia University.

Q: What did the review process entail?

Dean Martinez conducted her review of each individual fraternity on a chapter level. This review included, but was not limited to, a history of service and philanthropic activities, evidence of contributions to the greater community, Greek Judicial board records, academic and judicial records, and prior incident reports. Student Affairs engaged with individual students, student leaders, chapter membership, and residents to learn more about each organization’s shared values, mission, and commitment to giving back to the Columbia community. The InterGreek Council was not involved in the review process.

Q: Who was responsible for making the decision?

Dean Martinez conducted a comprehensive review of the three fraternities on suspension. She then made recommendations to Dean Shollenberger, and a collective decision was made.

Q: What is happening to the chapter brownstones?

The chapters will vacate their houses following the end of the Spring 2011 semester.  An application to occupy the three brownstones in question will be released in Fall 2012, and will take into effect in Fall 2013.  Criteria for this application have not been determined. In the meantime, the Office of Residential Programs will fill those rooms at their discretion.

Q: What does this mean for the chapters going forward?

The chapters will remain on social suspension for the remainder of Spring 2011. While they have lost their housing privileges effective Fall 2011, after the expiration of their social suspension at the end of Spring 2011, they will be granted all the privileges afforded to Greek chapters on the Columbia University campus. They will continue to have probationary recognition for the next three years, to be reviewed annually.  Dean Shollenberger, Dean Martinez, and the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life are committed to helping these chapters achieve full recognition.  In fulfilling the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life’s ALPHA Standards of Excellence, which is required of all Greek chapters to be considered in good standing, the IGC firmly believes that these three chapters will be able to meet the standards of their annual reviews.

Q: What are the ALPHA Standards of Recognition? Discussions with the Greek community about establishing an accreditation system for 2011 began in September of 2010.  The Greek community spent the Fall semester working on the Statement of Shared Values, which gave every chapter the opportunity to provide input.  Students representing each sub-council of the InterGreek Council worked on the final version of the Statement of Shared Values.  This statement can be found on the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life website.

The purpose of the 5-Star ALPHA Standards of Excellence Program is to enhance the values, beliefs, and practices of Fraternity and Sorority Life at Columbia University and recognize the accomplishments of outstanding chapters.  By encouraging academic success, leadership development, philanthropy, community service, and chapter management, the Office of Residential Programs seeks to reward chapters who exemplify excellence and continuously work towards making a positive impact on campus and the surrounding community while fulfilling the mission and vision of their respective organizations.

Fraternities and sororities have the ability to earn three to five stars, with a minimum of three stars required to receive full recognition.

Q: Why is the chapter being punished for the actions of an individual?

The reviews of each individual fraternity were conducted by reflecting on the chapter as a whole and not solely on the basis of the actions of the individuals involved in the NYPD “Operation Ivy League” investigation.  The behavior of individuals did, however, prompt Dean Martinez and Dean Shollenberger to review the four-year history of each of the three fraternities in question.  The sanctions placed on these chapters reflect the comprehensive review process conducted by Dean Martinez of each individual fraternity. The University will not conduct the judicial procedures for those individuals involved until outside proceedings are completed. The University will not announce those internal proceedings as they begin, in accordance with federal privacy laws regarding student information.

-2011 InterGreek Council Executive Board

Anthony Testa, President, InterFraternity Council

Lauren Perrine, President, Panhellenic Council

Jason Tejada, President, Multicultural Greek Council