Alpha Epsilon Phi is under investigation for allegations of hazing and underage drinking, a University administrator confirmed last week.
The Office of Student Rights and Responsibilities received several tips, Assistant Dean of Students Tara Pereira said, that alleged the sorority engaged in hazing, facilitated underage alcohol consumption and distributed alcohol to minors.
“We are investigating these allegations, which we take seriously,” Pereira said.
The investigation, she said, centers on “determining the existence and extent of certain behaviors within the chapter that could significantly impact the health and safety of its members.”
The University, along with Alpha Epsilon Phi’s national organization, directed the chapter to stop its new member initiation process during the investigation. No final decisions have been made about whether or not they will be able to keep this fall’s 51-person pledge class, Pereira said.
Pereira said the tips about AEPhi’s new member practices were “very concerning,” but as per University policy, declined to elaborate on the specific concerns.
Molly Finer, president of AEPhi, directed all questions to the sorority’s national branch, saying the chapter “intends on fully cooperating with the University and our national organization.”
Executive Director of Alpha Epsilon Phi’s national organization Bonnie Wunsch declined to comment.
The allegations come at a time of sustained growth for the Greek community. A record 512 women joined GW’s 10 Panhellenic sororities this year after a 15-percent spike of participants in formal recruitment.
AEPhi – consistently one of the largest sororities on campus – totaled 157 women this year, a 27-person increase from 2010.
To accommodate the expanding sorority population, members of the Panhellenic Association voted late last month to add an 11th chapter to campus as early as this spring.
Three Greek chapters were formally charged with hazing, underage consumption of alcohol and providing alcohol to minors last January after a months-long investigation. Kappa Kappa Gamma, Pi Kappa Alpha and Sigma Phi Epsilon all pled “in violation” of the charges. Pereira said hazing charges could be met with a range of punishments including losing University recognition and probation.
The sorority was suspended in 2004 for an anonymous hazing allegation that Pereira said at the time reportedly required candidates to “keep a penny in their shoe” and “wear specific clothing under their street clothes.”
In the Code of Student Conduct, hazing activities “include but are not limited to paddling in any form; creation of excessive fatigue; physical and psychological shocks; quests, treasure hunts, scavenger hunts, road trips, or any other such activities carried on outside the confines of the house or organization; wearing, publicly, apparel that is conspicuous and not normally in good taste; engaging in public stunts and buffoonery; morally degrading or humiliating games and activities; and any other activities which are not consistent with the academic mission of the University.”
It is time the University ends the witch hunt it has against its Greek Life. As a fellow Colonial, I saw what it was like to see the time when Greek Life was able to enjoy their college experience without any problems. Although not in a Sorority, I did know many in them and after reading many articles year after year, I feel the Student Judicial Services and the Office of President has gone far enough when it comes to targeting Greek life. Let the students enjoy their college experience!
Glad someone is finally investigating them. Surprised they weren’t caught last spring.
This person is obviously in a sorority other than AEPHI … Maybe Kappa or DG???? Sororities should stop fighting against each other and enjoy their college experience.
Last spring? Impossible, since AEPhi has never done Spring rush…
Aephi is one of the best sororities on campus. I absolutely love those girls And I am positive that their new member process has nothing to do with alcohol AT ALL and I hope that the student judicial serivices are able to realize that.
The consequences of trying to stop Greek students (and other students) from drinking on campus:
1. Remove a safe place for people to drink where they are surrounded by friends who care for them
2. Get young people who are not used to life in DC to go to places like Adams Morgan and Georgetown late at night, where they may be mugged or worse (young girls in skimpy dresses should not be on city streets at 3am while drunk)
3. Cause students to choose less detectable substances, such as cocaine and ecstasy, for recreation
4. Cause kids to hesitate about calling Emerge for their friends when they need to do so immediately
5. Perpetuate the notion that you are a criminal, bad student, and bad person if your lips touch alcohol before you are 21
GW Student, so your defense to allow on-campus drinking is that students don’t have the common sense or ability to take care of themselves in the real world? Bad judgement is never a plausible excuse to defend underage drinking, if anything it outlines why this situation needs to be addressed.
In response to your #5 reason. Last time I checked, underage drinking was an illegal act. What do you call people that engage in illegal acts?…..I call them criminals.
And i’m sure you never drank underage or sped or broke any of the numerous other laws that are broken by almost everyone.
Not everybody breaks the law, pour generalization on your part.
Pouring that generalization all over your poor spelling, you law abiding Geed.
And i’m sure you never drank underage or sped or broke any of the numerous other laws that are broken by almost everyone.
Yes, my defense is that if people are going to get drunk and act crazy, it’s better to do it among a circle of friends rather than on DC streets where rapists and thieves lurk.
Non-original GW Student, not everybody breaks the law. This is a pour generalization on your part.
Original GW Student: I understand your point, but rapist and thieves will always be in Washington D.C. (along with any other metropolitan area, crime is a by-product of society). The mass will have to learn how to deal with this eventually, I say college is a good time to learn….after all….isn’t that what college is all about?
Still pouring baby! All over your poor fucking excuse for intelligence. Twice in one comment section? Ban this GDI from commenting!
You’re points are absolutely ludicrous and exaggerated! If you think taking away alcohol will lead students to hard drugs then you are delusional; and if that is the case there is a larger problem that needs to be taken care of; and letting them drink isn’t the solution.
Pryo is right here. When it comes down to it underage drinking is illegal, and the university has the right and the responsibility to enforce it and it is better for it! The rampant alcohol use amongst students is a disgrace. Its the law, its not how one person thinks it should be: it is what it is.
And before anyone gives the whole, “like you’ve never had a drink.” defense. The answer is no. So if one man can have enough self control and resist tides of popular pressure by remaining completely substance free well into his time here. I see no reason why we allow these excuses to bear weight. When it comes down to it we are adults now, we are required to take responsibility for our actions and whether people like it or not, this is what it is. Rules were broken, and penalties resulted.
“The sorority was suspended in 2004 for an anonymous hazing allegation that Pereira said at the time reportedly required candidates to “keep a penny in their shoe” and “wear specific clothing under their street clothes.”
Oh the humanity.
Are they going to investigate my professors for forcing me to “hold a pencil for several hours” to “transcribe numerous essays” about stuff I was “forced to study for several weeks” causing “sever sleep deprivation and lack of social contact?”
Pyro, seriously? Yes it is illegal but so is jaywalking…Drinking occurs all over campus. When underage drinking occurs around campus and you get caught for it, you have to go to an alcohol awareness meeting and redo your “my student body”. But when theres underage drinking in a frat, you can get kicked off campus and the entire pledge class is gone? This is completely ridiculous. Pyro, if you honestly believe GW can do anything to rid the university or even solely the frats of underage drinking, you are clearly mistaken. That will never happen. And to see the 2004 allegations…really? One penny in shoes is hazing? Also Pyro, just a fact that any student can back me up on. The students who came to GW having drank in the past at parties and in moderation with their family are the students that can handle themselves here. They know their limits and are better equipped to handle themselves. The students that come to GW with no prior experience drinking have been the students who go crazy here and do not know their limits and are often the ones getting in trouble and being stupid. My point when I compared going after underage drinking to going after jaywalking is actually very valid because in New York, for instance, the punishment for underage drinking and jaywalking is a summons that carries the exact same fee. If you’re going to attack underage drinking, you can just as fairly attack jaywalking…
Underage drinking takes place all over campus, whether you’re in Greek life or not. It’s a shame that the University is attacking Greek Life specifically, especially because they are the main philanthropic organizations on campus. Good luck AEPhi, I know that you girls did nothing wrong!
*Rolls his eyes*
Give me a break. You know what happens in the “real world” when someone get’s caught for underage drinking? I can assure you it’s not an alcohol awareness meeting or loss of fraternity pledges. You would get a permanent criminal record! Good luck reporting that on your job employment application when/if you graduate.
I’m currently in Greek Life, and agree that the administration at GW is ridiculous with its targeting of greek life. Of course there will be underage drinking, no matter if you are in greek life or you are not. There is statistically a higher percentage of drinking that goes on with greek students, but they are all required to take alcohol education courses and attend meetings. However, AEPhi has always hazed very seriously, and I’m glad someone has turned them in; I hope it was one of the new members who was uncomfortable. They use the excuse that the actions are “holocaust remembrance”, but that is not justification. I hope that AEPhi has learned its lesson and stops the hazing once and for all.
Everyone is right that sjs is going too far, but aephi clearly deserves this -anyone on campus could tell you they haze. They got away with it once citing “holocaust remembrance ” which is obviously bs. They will have their mothers call Tara until they get out of it this time too.
The Holocaust thing was from the FRATERNITY AEPi. This article is in regards to the SORORITY AEPhi. They are completely different entities.
That is “Holocaust Remembrance”? That is about as asinine as telling me to go dig holes outside the fraternity house all day and only earn 10 cents, have nothing but potatoes to eat and share a cold water flat with 8 other guys in memory of my immigrant heritage.
The Holocaust Rememberance thing was from the FRATERNITY AEPi; this article is in regards to the SORORITY AEPHi.
Lol at people who spend 55k to go to such a crappy school. Transfer guys
If you think GW sucks, then don’t go here. Granted, you still choose to read our student newspaper. You must be so miserable.
I love the AEPhi pledge process…backpacks, ponytails, no zippers, lineups outside Gelman…
AEPhi has hazed for at least a decade, everyone knows that. Krispy Kremes, anyone?
I figured AEPhi hazing consisted of having your UGGS confiscated, having to wear clothes from Walmart, drinking tap water, can’t get your nails done, and having your iPhone confiscated- no calls to Mommy and Daddy.
Some hazing is OK- it builds character and forces you to reflect on your role in the organization. I bet GW wouldn’t approve of my firehouse probie hazing either- they made us wash the trucks, scrub the floor, take out the garbage, drenched me with a hose at low pressure and the night my probation ended, a bunch of the guys made me stand on a table and bombarded me with questions about “you think you’re good enough?”. They said “yeah we guess you are, get down off the table.” The next guy had a 5 gallon bucket of water thrown over his head.
PS: Do I even want to know what was in the Krispy Kremes?
At least the girls in this sorority are cooperating and in the end NOTHING will happen. I am not in a sorority, but have read this article and followed many other past cases with SJS and can tell you this entire trail is BS and in the end will be let go with nothing. NOT because their parents called, but because the school is doing this out of show so they do not get a law suit from parents. As for other sororities, lets just say one day you might be in their shoes and will have to go through this entire process. So for all of these comments on here bashing this sorority, think twice that it might just be you next year. What I find remarkable here is that instead of sororities doing the right greek way of behaving civilized and normal, you have a select few of girls, as it seem from reading these articles, that take this greek life a little too far. Like I said, I doubt these girls will face any punishment and will predict future sororities being in the same situation.
1. Underage college students are going to drink no matter what
2. It’s been proven time and time again there’s nothing institutions can do to lower consumption, only change how students deal with the effects.
3. If non-government institutions enforce alcohol laws as strictly as the police, it will force the drinking underground and people will die because of it.
4. If promoting the welfare of the students is the priority of the school, unless you believe enforcement will lower consumption, then enforcement runs directly contrary to their own goal and responsibility.
The only crome AEPhi committed was creating that horrid promo video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YptVBjRJLoc
This smut is ridiculous
**crime
FYI, There is a hazing awareness scholarship available to all students at http://www.collegegreekbooks.com/cashaward.html
Pyro, you are such an herb.
Collge + Greek Life = drinking, experimenting, sex, etc.
Get with the program.