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Round-Up for April 21
Family of Brothers
African-American Fraternities Foster Community at Georgetown
The red and white striped walking canes might give it away. Or perhaps the “skeeeeeee weeeee” calls to ladies in pink and green might let you know.Whether it’s through the paraphernalia or activity programming, Black Greek Letter Organizations — fraternities specifically tailored to the black community — are alive and thriving at Georgetown.
About a dozen Georgetown students are involved in historically BGLOs for a variety of reasons, even though Georgetown does not officially recognize Greek life on campus.
Mark Jean (NHS ’05) calls his fraternity a place to form “a bond.”
Jean became a member of Kappa Alpha Psi in spring 2002 after he “saw what the Kappas on campus were doing, and what the organization stood for … and that really resonated in my spirit.”
Inspired by the African American male businessmen, preachers, doctors and lawyers in the fraternity, Jean said that he felt that he would be pushed to be the best and would receive encouragement from a group of people who understood him and truly cared.
In this way, people like Jean say that black Greek life has helped them bond as sisters and brothers. Not only do these organizations stand as symbols of black culture, but they often plan events and activities to celebrate this.
The most active of the black fraternities on Georgetown’s campus are the Kappa Alpha Psi with six members, Alpha Kappa Alpha with five members and Delta Sigma Theta with one. In past years membership numbers have fluctuated.
Whereas most college fraternities are stereotyped as characterized by Greek houses, boisterous parties and collegiate camaraderie, members of Georgetown’s BGLOs say that black fraternities and sororities have an added element. They were established — many of them first in the District — as a way to foster lifelong sisterhood and brotherhood among black students as well as providing opportunities to network and to give back to the community.
Stomping to the complex rhythm of step routines, many students in BGLOs spend late hours perfecting this age-old cultural expression of rhythm and dance, for example. But they also roll out of bed early to participate in community service projects for the homeless and others.
Despite the positive aspects of BGLOs, negative stereotypes also accompany the groups.
Jennifer Fisher (COL ’05), a member of the Nu Alpha Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, said that many fraternal organizations in general are stereotyped as being entirely social and nothing else.
“Georgetown boasts about diversity and has been called one of the best universities for black students, yet it often fails to support issues that are most important to us,” she said.
Thus Fisher and other students look to BGLOs to build support networks and friendships.
But some administrators are opposed to fraternal organizations altogether.
According to Martha Swanson, Georgetown’s director of student programs, building networks is something that should be open to all in the university, not just those who make it into a fraternity or sorority.
“The university believes in open organizations and inclusiveness,” she said. “Any organization that does not allow anybody to join and has a kind of secret ritual around it doesn’t live out the values of Jesuit education the way Georgetown sees it.”
But while administrators have declined to offer official university recognition to BGLOs, student members insist that there are few organizations that they would rather be involved in.
“One of the biggest benefits is that you have so many opportunities to form lifelong relationships with so many different people, all while knowing that you are doing things to better your community,” Renee Coleman (NHS ’06), who is president of the Omicron Pi Chapter, said. “Service to all mankind is our primary focus, and even though it’s fun to fellowship with other Greeks, serving the community is our passion.”
UCSD students have party for youngsters in city (Alpha Phi Omega)
April 17, 2005
UCSD's Alpha Phi Omega threw a party for neighborhood youngsters at the North Park Recreation Center yesterday, but there was a serious side to the fun and games."We wanted to focus on kids planning for their future," said David Waymane, a University of California San Diego senior manning the information booth. So in addition to the ring toss and the ping-pong ball toss and face painting, there were bottle rockets for aspiring astronauts and some rain forest-oriented arts and crafts, including paper butterflies made from coffee filters.
The bottle rockets had their ups and downs early on, but once the technical details – mainly a mixture of vinegar and baking soda and the speedy placement of an all-important cork – were ironed out, suborbital launches up to 10 feet resumed with a fair degree of reliability.
There was some debate about what exactly happens when you mix the baking soda and vinegar fuels.
"Water for sure," said Kevin Tsai, a junior majoring in management science.
"And carbon dioxide," said Cornelia Burns, a sophomore majoring in chemistry.
The carbon dioxide provided the "oomph" needed to send some of the bottle rockets from a bucket doubling as a launch pad.
No one was a loser yesterday, and every youngster received at least one ticket just for a trying a game that was redeemable for a prize later on. Good scores on those games earned more tickets.
Josephine Quintero, 7, a pupil at North Park Elementary School, was encouraged to collect more tickets for a bigger prize when she decided to cash three tickets.
Josephine collected four more at the Lily Pad Leap, which involved landing a ping-pong ball in any of a dozen bowls floating in a kiddie wading pool, and then went in search of others.
Nearby, Michael Cooksey, 3, was a bit dubious about having his face painted with a spider web.
"He looks like he's going to cry. He's shy," said his mother, Carnel.
Jade Bito-Onon, a UCSD sophomore majoring in cognitive science, brought Eduardo Garcia and Ivan Ramirez, two 10-year-olds from National City's Central Elementary School, to the fair. She tutors the youngsters during school hours.
Parents also had an opportunity to have their youngsters fingerprinted and photographed, courtesy of the local chapter of the Child Rescue Network.
The group has provided identification cards for about 3,000 youngsters in the last three years, said director Jodi Breslow.
Alpha Phi Omega is a coed fraternity with a service orientation, and about half the 150 members were on hand yesterday, along with 10 pledges from the UCLA chapter.
Members had worked at Qualcomm Stadium and Petco Park to raise part of the $2,500 needed to stage yesterday's "Explore the Future" carnival, and grants and contributions made up the rest, Waymane said.
Purdue disbands Kappas, group revokes charter
A fraternity lost its recognition as a University organization after an investigation uncovered several infractions from a party on Feb. 12.Members of Kappa Alpha Psi rented a room at the Delta Sigma Phi house, 341 Northwestern Ave., during which Purdue and West Lafayette police departments and the Tippecanoe County Sheriff’s Office were called to the house.
The investigation uncovered violations including underage drinking, fighting and possession of drugs and weapons.
Pablo Malavenda, associate dean of students for student activities and organizations, said the fraternity has had a history of misconduct that dates back almost 16 years and lost its recognition before in the early 1990s.
Malavenda said the fraternity had been allowed back to the University only because of his authorization.
"They knew what the stipulations were for them to come back and I don’t think they met the expectations I set forth for them when they came back," he said.
"This is one more indication that the organization did not have the leadership to understand right from wrong and didn’t have the leadership to get beyond this."
As a result, Kappa Alpha Psi will remain unrecognized by the University until 2010 and the national organization will revoke the fraternity’s charter and close the chapter.
Purdue also placed Delta Sigma Phi, the fraternity that rented the house to Kappa Alpha Psi, on probation until Sept. 15 for exceeding fire-code capacity standards.
"I’m confident that they’re not going to be renting out their house again in the future," Malavenda said.
Kappa Alpha Psi may submit an appeal request to the Campus Board of Appeals before April 27, which Shy-Quon Ely, chapter adviser and alumnus, said the fraternity will file by Friday.
Ely said that under no circumstances does the fraternity condone drug use.
"The sanctions levied do not fit with what we’re being punished for," he said.
"We are concerned with the allegations that have arisen about the party we threw and that the allegations are exaggerated. We will iron these details out through the appeals process and we feel that the issue will be resolved shortly."
SIUE Sigma Hazing Suit Settled
A lawsuit brought by an SIUE student who said he was paddled so hard during a fraternity hazing that he was hospitalized for three days was dismissed Thursday from Madison County Circuit Court.Advertisement
Click to learn more...The suit was brought by Prentice Motley, of Decatur, against Phi Beta Sigma, the fraternity he was hoping to pledge in April of 2002.
The case was on the trial docket for April 5 but was postponed while attorneys tried to reach a compromise. A member of the fraternity, Malike Perkins, who was 19 at the time, admitted paddling Motley the day before Motley entered the hospital and has been sentenced to a year's probation.
"This was just an out-of-court settlement at a considerably compromised amount," said Robbye Hill Toft, a St. Louis attorney who represented the fraternity. "It was just intended to bring resolution to an unfortunate situation."
She declined to comment further about the case.
According to court records, Motley was one of three people pledging the fraternity when the alleged incident occured. He went to the hospital the next day complaining of fever and severe pain.
Prosecutors said later that reports that the paddling had ruptured Motley's kidney were innacurate.
According to court records, SIUE officials suspended the fraternity pending an investigation. In a written response to Motley's allegations, Toft denied that Phi Beta Sigma had a chapter at SIUE at the time. She denied that Motley's kidney ruptured as a result of the paddling and she claimed that the injuries "were a result of negligent conduct of a third party over whom the fraternity had no control."
The suit alleges that the fraternity was negligent by:
- hazing Motley;
- physically assaulting and battering him during the process of accepting him into the fraternity;
- not properly supervising fraternity members during the pledge process; and
- not properly training its members in the proper methods of pledging.
The suit alleges that Motley suffered severe and permanent injuries, internally, externally, and emotionally.
The suit, filed by Collinsville attorney Steven C. Giacoletto, sought in excess of $50,000.
According to an Incident Investigation Report filed with the suit in June of 2003, Perkins acknowledged that he paddled Motley but said he did not appear to be in any pain during the incident or immediately afterward. Perkins waited until the day after the incident to seek hospitalization.
Frederich Spencer has been sentenced to a year's probation, and Adedamola Oshin has also been sentenced to a year's probation for lying to a Madison County grand jury.
On Feb. 17, 2005, felony hazing charges were dropped against another fraternity member, Deanthony Moore, of Edwardsville. He was allowed to plead guilty to misdemeanor disorderly conduct.
Motley, now 24, graduated from SIUE in December with a degree in management information systems.
Accident Takes Lives of UI Alumni (Two are Kappas)
Three University of Illinois graduates were killed early Sunday morning after their car flipped over the median on Interstate 57, slamming into an incoming van.Charisse R. Hartzol, 22, of Hazelcrest, Ill., Ramadan K. El-Amin, 23, of Chicago Heights, Ill., and Michael Edwards, 25, of Chicago were driving north to the Chicagoland area following a Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity party held on campus Saturday to celebrate the new pledge class of the Delta Sigma Theta sorority. The driver of the southbound van - Edward T. Gaines, 62, of Monee, Ill. - was also killed, while the two passengers in the van were injured and sent to a nearby hospital. Two people in a third vehicle, which ran into a ditch on the west side of the interstate after trying to evade the accident, were not hurt.
El-Amin graduated from the University last May and had enrolled in the doctoral program at the University of Illinois-Chicago with a fellowship.
Oliver Hatchett, junior in communications, said he knew all three alums and that he was close friends of Edwards and El-Amin, whom he met his freshman year. He said the deaths greatly affected the African-American community, especially the upperclassmen.
"It's a situation that has opened a lot of people's eyes and help them realize how precious life is," Hatchett said.
Arthur Scales, president of the University chapter of the Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity, said his fraternity was especially saddened by the loss of El-Amin and Edwards, who had joined the fraternity together in the fall of 2000. Scales said that he feared the driver or one or more passengers might have fallen asleep behind the wheel, causing a loss of control of the vehicle.
The Black Greek Council at the University is holding a memorial service for the three University victims at 8:30 tonight in room 112 of Gregory Hall.
The Council forwarded an e-mail to its members on Monday that stated, "the tragic death of our three former students has left many of us feeling an extreme amount of grief. Please join the council in remembering the joy these students brought to our lives and help each other make it through these very difficult times."
Hatchett said the death of the three alumni will bring the African-American community together.
"God is in control of every situation," Hatchett said. "He has a purpose for everyone, and we have to look at the positives of this situation. This event will help unify the African-American community.
"At times like this, it is very important to continue to pray. These prayers will get us through this difficult time."
More than 200 students, faculty and alumni gathered on the steps of Foellinger Auditorium on Tuesday night to mourn the passing of three recent University graduates.Three alumni were killed in an automobile accident Sunday morning on Interstate 57. Charisse R. Hartzol, 22, of Hazelcrest, Ill., was driving home from a Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity party when her car crossed the highway median and slammed into an oncoming van. Her passengers, Ramadan K. El-Amin, 23, of Chicago Heights, Ill., and Michael Edwards, 25, of Chicago were also killed.
The van's driver, Edward Gaines, 62, of Monee, Ill., was also killed. His two passengers were listed in critical condition at the time of this report.
Tuesday's candlelight vigil was followed by prayers and song. Those in attendance then proceeded to room 112 in Gregory Hall where mourners passed a table with images of the three alums to pay their final respects. A slide presentation depicting photographs of the recently deceased was shown to the audience as people offered scriptures, poems and songs.
University alum Sherrika Ellison and University student in LAS Arthur Scales preformed "Eyes is on the Sparrow."
Purple ribbons were given to attendees to commemorate the service.
"It's been very hard for upperclassmen; They were very very close to (the three)," said Nameka Bates, assistant director in the office of the dean of students, who was at the vigil. "For those who can't make it to the funeral, this is their chance to grieve."
Mourners were allowed to address the gathering of people and reflect on their memories of those that they lost.
Presentations from members of Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity and friends of Hartzol shared people's memories of the three.
The classroom quickly filled to capacity, and many mourners were left standing in the halls. The heat and anxiety to get inside the room added to the emotions of the already fragile group. Many began to weep as they passed the table with images of their friends. Many who were unable to participate in the services sobbed as they waited in the hallway.
Posted by Rashid on April 21, 2005 7:58 AM