Theta Xi and Sigma Nu were placed on social probation while Kappa Delta and Alpha Phi were given formal conduct warnings, Oct. 30.

Theta Xi was found responsible for unregistered social activity, serving alcohol at a dry event and another alcohol violation, while Sigma Nu was found responsible for hard alcohol being present at a registered dry event and a risk management violation. Kappa Delta was also found responsible for serving alcohol at a registered dry event and Alpha Phi was found responsible for a risk management violation.

Formal conduct warnings typically do not include organizational punishments for fraternities or sororities, but instead count as a “first strike” for the group. Social probation, however, prevents organizations from hosting social events for a certain period of time.

Senior Jimmy Abraham, president of the Interfraternity Council, emphasized the constructive nature of such punishments.

“A big thing that our council has been trying to do, along with the WPA as well, is to emphasize the fact that everything the councils do, and really the FSL staff as well, is specifically done for safety… it’s not a slap on the wrist for no reason,” Abraham said. “It is that we are genuinely worried about people’s safety and that is why this happened.”

Associate Director for Campus Life-Fraternity Sorority Life Austin Sandoval-Sweeney declined to elaborate on the details of the violations of the four Greek organizations beyond what was stated online, citing the integrity of the conduct process. However, he also stressed that the punishments determined by the conduct council would encourage growth and improvement.

“All chapters that go through a conduct process and are found responsible for violating policy, there essentially always will be outcomes focused on chapter members having an opportunity to learn and grow from the incident by way of an educational intervention or risk management review,” Sandoval-Sweeney wrote in a statement to Student Life.

According to Abraham, there are still aspects of Greek life outside of social events which members of Theta Xi and Sigma Nu can still enjoy.

“Unfortunately, there are people in the community for which their sole motivation for joining a fraternity or a sorority is the social events, in which case it [social probation] is obviously a bigger deal,” Abraham said. “But I think for the people who are trying to get something out of it more than specifically social events alone, it is not a huge deal.”

Kappa Delta President senior Emma Kramer characterized her sorority’s violation for the provision of alcohol at a dry event as “a slight miscommunication.” Kramer hopes to use this warning as a turning point going forward.

“We do not recall having ever been called to standards board before this and so we look forward to using this as an educational opportunity to continue the ongoing conversation in KD about increasing safety in the Greek community and in our chapter,” Kramer wrote in a statement to Student Life.

The president of Theta Xi declined to comment. The president of Alpha Phi and the director of standards of the Women’s Panhellenic Association did not respond to comment requests.