The Alumni of Zeta Chapter – represented and led by our Alumni Corporation Board – always strives to ensure the enduring legacy and success of our Chapter. Over the last few months, some difficult decisions had to be made in the face of significant challenges with the chapter.
How We Got Here and Actions to Date
During the final week of the Spring Semester, the General Fraternity (national) placed the Undergraduate chapter on Limited Operations. The General Fraternity then conducted an investigation, which revealed significant operational deficiencies. As a result of these findings, national ordered and organized a Membership Review and the installation of a Control Board led by Ken Termini (see Ken’s message HERE). The Control Board is committed to guiding the chapter back to its foundational principles.
All returning undergraduate members had to meet with the Membership Review Committee. The purpose of these interviews was to assess each brother’s understanding of the issues, their commitment to upholding the value of Lambda Chi Alpha and their willingness to actively participate in the chapter’s revitalization. That review is now complete, and Zeta Chapter now has a strong nucleus of 29 active undergraduates.
The House
The timing of these events posed a challenge. Once a person signs a residential lease, Pennsylvania law makes it very difficult to remove that individual from a property. There was not enough time to conduct the investigation and complete the membership review prior to issuing a lease. We wanted to avoid offering suspended or expelled members to have housing contracts; they could have refused to vacate the property. Therefore, the Alumni Housing Corporation made the difficult, but necessary decision to not issue a residential lease
What’s Next
While the house will not serve as a residence for the Undergraduates, the chapter will remain active and vibrant, and the House will be used for certain group functions, such as Undergraduate officer meetings and rush. Ken Termini will also serve as the new Undergraduate Advisor. The General Fraternity, Control Board, and Undergraduates will work together to ensure appropriate guidance and training is given/received, and that the operational deficiencies are corrected.
We expect the Undergraduates will work through these challenges and come back better than ever, continuing our more than one-hundred-year legacy.
We will provide further updates as the chapter progresses, and we welcome you continued support and engagement during this crucial period.
In Zax,
Mike Heimowitz