The Daily Tar Heel
Printing news. Raising hell. Since 1893.
Thursday, March 28, 2024 Newsletters Latest print issue

We keep you informed.

Help us keep going. Donate Today.
The Daily Tar Heel

Members of the Greek community have found the long list of recommendations placed on the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity new and unusual. Some have called it excessive.

And after complaints from the fraternity’s leadership, the sanctions might be revised.

The Fraternity and Sorority Standards Review Board — a group of administrators, students, alumni and faculty members that oversees the Greek system — issued almost 25 recommendations and directives to Delta Kappa Epsilon in a letter dated Nov. 20.

The directives require the creation of a local alumni advisory board and the presence of alumni or faculty advisers at recruitment events. The fraternity must also create and fill six to eight new leadership positions — three of which are vice presidents with specific duties — within the organization’s leadership.

These directives are intended to improve the fraternity’s academics, accountability and community involvement in light of “a multitude of incidents, reports, and violations over a two-year period,” according to a letter sent to the fraternity.

Senior Patrick Fleming, president of Delta Kappa Epsilon and a member of the DTH Editorial Board, said University administrators are going back through the list with the standards review board to come up with something more achievable.

“The document right now is unfeasible and very burdensome,” he said. “We want to work with the University to create a sustainable framework. As it is right now, it is not sustainable.”

The most recent violation that brought the fraternity before the board was a party in August, in which the organization violated alcohol policy.

That night, fraternity president Courtland Smith was shot and killed by police outside of Greensboro.

Some members of other fraternities have called the recommendations excessive in light of existing sanctions from the Greek Judicial Board — the Greek student governing body — and internal reforms already implemented by Delta Kappa Epsilon earlier in the year.

While many fraternities have executive councils, most have only one president and vice president. Only some have alumni at rush events.

Other universities primarily use their Interfraternity Councils to handle violations of policy, while UNC uses both a student judicial board and the standards review board.

Ryan Salisbury, a sophomore member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity at the University of Georgia, said his fraternity has been under recent scrutiny, but that he’s never heard of an extensive letter of recommendations being issued to any fraternity on his campus.

“I think it’s a little over the top,” Salisbury said. “Going through the IFC you guys have at UNC is enough. Trying to overhaul with that many regulations is a bit excessive.”

The letter of recommendations was issued after Delta Kappa Epsilon went before the standards and review board for the second time in a one-year time frame, an uncommon occurrence in the Greek system, said Charlie Winn, president of UNC’s Interfraternity Council.

But repeated alcohol violations by the fraternity and a review by the judicial board caused the fraternity to come before the standards review board earlier than expected, which was taken into consideration when the board formulate the list of directives.

“This is the first time someone has gone in front of the board twice within a period of a year,” Winn said.

He said the standards review board’s recommendations were unusual, but that the board has only existed for less than five years and has not dealt with such a situation before.

But Winn suggested that, had the board been in existence longer, similar action could have been taken against fraternities that repeatedly violate policy.

Melissa Exum, dean of students and chairwoman of the standards and review board, said she did not think the recommendations were unusual given the circumstances.

“I don’t think it is setting (the bar) too high,” Exum said. “It reads like a lot, but I think it’s more than reasonable.”

Exum said most of the directives issued are used at other fraternities already.

“This is the process the review board uses,” she said. “I can’t think of any clear recommendation that for the most part all the other fraternities aren’t already following,” Exum said. “It’s not anything new.”

Tucker Piner, a sophomore member of Kappa Sigma fraternity, said he thinks the expanded council and additional vice presidents will help Delta Kappa Epsilon manage the organization, as it is one of the largest fraternities on campus.

“I just think that bringing more people involved and making bigger decisions is a good idea,” Piner said. “The more people you can have, you make a more informed decision.”



Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.

To get the day's news and headlines in your inbox each morning, sign up for our email newsletters.

Special Print Edition
The Daily Tar Heel's Collaborative Mental Health Edition