SAE’s national headquarters suspends chapter at University of Iowa

Daily Staff

Sigma Alpha Epsilon’s national headquarters suspended the charter of its Iowa Beta chapter at the University of Iowa, and expelled that chapter’s members from the organization and removed their membership privileges, according to a statement released by SAE’s national headquarters Monday.

“This decision by the national organization comes as a result of hazing and the chapter’s failure to comply with our standards, guidelines and policies set forth by the membership agreement and Sigma Alpha Epsilon’s governing laws,” the statement said. “Sigma Alpha Epsilon’s board of directors will not tolerate hazing or behavior that violates risk-management policies or the general guidelines for chapter operations.”

The statement said the chapter house will also be closed and its members will have to find other housing.

“Both national staff and local volunteers will work with university administrators and the house corporation during this transition to close the chapter,” the statement said. “We view the relationship with the University of Iowa as a partnership, and we hope to return to the campus in the future.”

The University of Iowa also released a statement, saying the university does not tolerate hazing or illegal consumption of alcohol in its student organizations. The statement said the university supports SAE’s national headquarters’ decision and “a further university investigation into individual violations of the Code of Student Life is in progress.”

“We are fortunate to have a strong and vibrant Greek community at the University of Iowa, which collectively plays an active role in community service and significant philanthropic efforts,” the University of Iowa’s statement said. “This incident is an aberration and perversion of the values that hundreds of fraternity and sorority members work hard to uphold, and should not reflect on the larger community of outstanding Greek students that contribute so much to our campus environment.”

Last week, several Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity members at Iowa State had their membership suspended.

Brandon Weghorst, associate executive director of communications for SAE’s national headquarters, said in a phone interview last week he did not know the exact reasons why the ISU SAE members were suspended nor how many were suspended.