Of the 39 student organizations sanctioned by the Office of Student Conduct (OSC) since 2013, 35 of those have been chapters from the greek community according to the OSC website.

The Office of Student Conduct (OSC) has sanctioned 39 student organizations since 2013. Of those, 35 organizations were greek chapters.

“It’s unfortunate that rules get broken and no one is shying away from any accountability,” said Billy Boulden, director of Greek Affairs during an interview with the Daily in December. “I don’t necessarily believe going through [the] student conduct process is a negative thing.”

OSC provides codes and regulations that all students must follow. Organizations who violate any of these codes or regulations are subject to sanctions or penalties, but only after a series of hearings are scheduled.

35 out of 39

In the last four years, greek chapters have made up 35 of the student organizations that have been sanctioned by OSC. Of the 35 greek chapters, Pi Kappa Alpha and Sigma Pi lead the way with four sanctions each since 2013.

Pi Kappa Alpha has been sanctioned four times for “misuse of alcoholic beverages and controlled substances,” according to the OSC website. Two of those times were packaged together during September 2016 after two separate incidents were reported in a short period of time, resulting in a double sanction. However, one of the events included the violation of a local, state or federal law.

“They were originally charged for the first violation and before they had settled that violation they had a second incident, so they had one hearing for all their violations,” Boulden said in December.

All of Sigma Pi’s offenses in the past four years also include “misuse of alcoholic beverages and controlled substances.” However one sanction against them in August 2016 claimed there was “public disorder” and “endangerment.” Two events were sanctioned with the violation of a local state or federal law.

The four non-greek organizations that have been sanctioned include the Women’s Hockey Team, Men’s Volleyball, ISU Ultimate Frisbee Club and Iowa State Running Club. All except for ISU Ultimate Frisbee Club were penalized for “misuse of alcoholic beverages and controlled substances.”

ISU Ultimate Frisbee Club was sanctioned for “harassment and discriminatory harassment,” “endangerment” and “violation of conditions of recognition.”

31 out of 35

All of the greek chapters that were sanctioned have violated code 4.2.26, “violations of conditions of recognition.” Conditions of recognition are the guidelines that allow them to be an organization at Iowa State.

As a result 31 out of 35 of the greek chapters were put on conduct probation.

“The organizational behavior will be under review,” said Sara Kellogg, director of OSC. “[Conduct probation] is not as significant as deferred suspension because if they violate another regulation at that time, it might then immediately go to a hearing. If it were significant enough it could still be charged as a level one. They could still be facing suspension or expulsion, but if it were a lower level violation, the outcome might be bumped to deferred suspension.”

The remaining four chapters either received disciplinary reprimand, defined length suspension or deferred suspension.

“[Deferred suspension] is kind of like a settlement, so we say we agree to not suspend a chapter at this time, that is deferred during the period that is indicated,” Kellogg said. “Should the chapter have additional violations, should there be additional concerns that are reported to the office, the chapter then could face having that deferral revoked and then ending up in a position where they could face a process to determine the suspension that would be appropriate.”

28 out of 35

Of the 35 greek-related sanctions, 28 included “misuse of alcoholic beverages and controlled substances.” Some chapters that violated this also violated conduct codes, including “indecent exposure,” “disruption of rights,” “endangerment” or “theft or damage to a property or services.”

As a result, some chapters had to review its risk management policy with Greek Affairs or OSC.

“[Chapters] are going to present some information to [OSC or Greek Affairs] that would be like, here are changes we are putting into place or we did make some edits or here are some different educational processes,” Kellogg said. “[It’s] taking a look at does this meet the needs? Does this serve the purpose of a risk management plan? [OSC] may have a different lens related to how might this be difficult for you to enforce. How might this not match with the student disciplinary regulations?”

Some chapters, were required to put in additional training for their members after the sanction.

“[The training] is up to each individual chapter,” Kellogg said. “[OSC] does not have a template for organizations. Most of the time their headquarters or nationals might have some kind of [plan]. In a hearing or meeting with organizations, we will say what we are aware of for some chapters or contact Greek Affairs and ask about some chapters that have very strong programs and then that might help you to model your [training].”

The consequences

“Typically we don’t comment on specific behavior pieces,” Boulden said in December. “We’re just here to help [chapters] do the right thing and be their cheerleaders. We let Student Conduct be the people who hold them accountable for their behavior and their actions.”

However, Greek Affairs is mentioned five times on the student organizational disciplinary page, all of which concerned Sigma Phi Epsilon and Sigma Pi’s sanctions this summer, between reviews, programs and meetings.

In December, Boulden referred to the relationship between OSC and Greek Affairs as a partnership. If Greek Affairs received a report, it gave it to OSC to investigate.

“I think a part of our experience is to learn and to grow and I think the ownership does go into our chapters to prove that they are learning and growing through the conduct process and that could be a positive for everyone,” Boulden said in December.

Presidents and Vice Presidents of Sigma Pi, Sigma Phi Epsilon and Pi Kappa Alpha and Billy Boulden did not respond to requests to comment specifically on this story.