Kappa Sigma was placed on social probation for “knowingly violating risk management and alcohol” policies, according to the Campus Life website Nov. 21.

Photo by Grace Bruton

According to Associate Director for Campus Life-Fraternity/Sorority Life Austin Sandoval-Sweeney, the insertion of “knowingly” means the fraternity should have known that its actions constituted a policy violation. The website’s usual language states that a chapter “was found responsible for” a violation.

According to Coordinator of Fraternity & Sorority Life Molly Bennett, the violations occurred at a Kappa Sigma-sponsored social event on Nov 2. Both Bennett and Sandoval-Sweeney declined to elaborate on the nature of the violations, instead referring to the website’s language.

The website also notes that Kappa Sigma “failed to comply with University Staff.”

“That [language] gets applied when there was something involved with the incident where University staff would have set out an expectation and that expectation was not followed,” Sandoval-Sweeney said.

Campus staff includes anyone from Campus Life staff to the Washington University Police Department.

The road back from social probation involves Campus Life-facilitated education of fraternity members and extensive conversations between Campus Life and fraternity leadership. Bennett said Kappa Sigma will face various educational sanctions that will be tailored to their violations.

“Everything is taken into consideration when determining sanctions,” Bennett said. “So the sanctions are also based on the responsibility.”

Bennett declined to delve into the specifics of the sanctions, citing the privacy of the fraternity.

Kappa Sigma’s punishment makes it the third fraternity currently on social probation, along with Tau Kappa Epsilon and Sigma Chi. Theta Xi served a period of social probation earlier in the semester. Every fraternity but Zeta Beta Tau and Beta Theta Pi has either been put on social probation or received a formal conduct warning this semester.

Kappa Sigma President junior Brandon Trusler did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

Interfraternity Council President Jimmy Abraham did not respond to multiple requests for comment.