During the final week of March, the University of Northern Colorado went from having four affiliated social fraternities, to two. Pi Kappa Phi and Pi Kappa Alpha joined a growing list of fraternities that are no longer recognized by the university.
It's unclear why both organizations left the university, but they seemed to make the decision on their own. Bear News reached out to Pi Kappa Alpha and Pi Kappa Phi, but neither were willing to comment.
While those organizations left on their own accord, many before them did not. Sigma Chi, Delta Tau Delta, Delta Chi, Alpha Kappa Lambda and Tau Kappa Epsilon are among the many fraternities that have come and gone at UNC.
Prior to the recent departure of Pi Kappa Phi and Pi Kappa Alpha, Delta Chi was holding its own as the only active, non-affiliated fraternity on campus. UNC stopped recognizing them in 2022 under, what members call, unfair circumstances. During Delta Chi’s 2021 formal, a member of the fraternity allegedly sexually assaulted a woman attending the event. No accusations were made until a few days after returning home. At the time, the President of Delta Chi Brandon Alexander says steps were immediately taken to help the situation.
“We were definitely like owning it. I reached out to the school. I reached out to nationals like, ‘Hey this happened at our event, let’s make this right'," Alexander said.
Executive members also removed the accused member from the chapter.
Vice President Matthew Truesdell says the group thought they were taking the right steps.
“We were thinking, like ‘Okay good, we’re doing everything right. We’re following the rules.’ And our [headquarters] was saying ‘Yeah, you’re doing everything right. You’re following the rules and doing exactly what you need to.’ And the school just waited and waited and waited,” Truesdell said.
They waited until right before the fall of 2022, about a year after the original event occurred, to hand down their resolution: Delta Chi was suspended from the University of Northern Colorado.
Two years before, the Alpha Kappa Lambda fraternity found itself on the chopping block as well, but for a much different reason. In Oct. 2019, a pledging member of the fraternity allegedly showed up to the fraternities chapter house after ingesting multiple tabs of acid. The Greeley Police Department was called to the house after 19-year-old James Adam Pike began trying to fight members of the fraternity. According to reports, he also tried to bite a police officer in the groin during arrest.
Alpha Kappa Lambda Alumni Benjamin Kontrelos says UNC was quick to respond.
“Basically two days after, the university hit us with a cease and desist. Ceasing all activity, borderline just taking away our chapter entirely within two days after the incident,” Kontreos said.
Following the events, rumors that Alpha Kappa Lambda was a drug-filled fraternity weren’t uncommon, and were easily backed up by one of UNC’s listed reasons for getting rid of the fraternity: use/possession of controlled substances.
The investigation that followed happened in tandem with another into an event that happened the year prior. Members had brought drugs and alcohol to the event, a brotherhood event, which took place in a cabin off-campus. No one was hurt during the trip, but the inclusion of substances combined with Pike’s LSD-fueled frenzy spelled trouble for the fraternity. Alpha Kappa Lambda was suspended in summer 2020, but Kontrelos says the investigation didn’t feel fair.
“Rather than them trying to figure out the situation, it felt like they had already jumped to a conclusion that they knew was going to be the end-all,” Kontrelos said.
Not only did it feel unfair, Kontrelos also felt a lack of individual support from the school.
“They never really offered any support of any kind to be like 'Hey, we recognize that this is a difficult time and we’re not trying to get you kicked off campus. We’re trying to figure this out' but it definitely felt like they were just trying to kick us off of campus,” Kontrelos said.
This lack of support hasn’t only extended to the fraternities leaving campus. According to Lambda Chi Alpha External Vice President Josh Lau there’s a lack of support even for fraternities that are affiliated.
“I feel like a lot of the times our organizations are left in the dark about what’s going to happen, or specific things we have to do to meet requirements for the school,” Lau said.
There’s also a lack of urgency from UNC he says is hard on the fraternities.
“Those processes and open communication [that is] there has just taken way too long where we aren’t able to function like the organization while we wait for the school to do their own things,” Lau said.
Lau suspects that Pi Kappa Phi and Pi Kappa Alpha left due to frustration with these slow processes.
“I can’t speak specifically on the instances in their cases, I just know that what they felt from the school was a lack of support,” he explained. “So, for them to continue operating the way that they wanted to, the way that they should be, they believed that the best option was to function under separate rules than the school has.”
So rather than wait around for UNC to finish investigations that, based on Alpha Kappa Lambda and Delta Chi’s cases, can take months, organizations are simply leaving.
In regards to fraternities feeling unfairly treated by the university, a UNC representative stated, “UNC’s Office of Student Engagement acts based on issues and concerns that are brought forward. We’re here to support every student on campus and appropriately investigate concerns that are brought to our attention.”
Without the university to police them, the fraternities will likely create their own governing council, according to Alexander and Truesdell. This may look similar to University of Colorado Boulder’s Interfraternity Council on the Hill, which encompasses multiple fraternities not recognized by the university.
Alexander hopes that without the school by their side, members will be more accountable.
“If we get in trouble, if something bad happens here, someone is going to jail. Back when we were with the school, they, in a weird way, protect the perpetrators,” Alexander said.
While Pi Kappa Phi, Delta Chi and Pi Kappa Alpha figure out how to navigate this new frontier, it has yet to be seen if the two remaining recognized fraternities will continue on as normal. It seems that way for Lambda Chi Alpha who Lau says will not be disaffiliating any time soon.
While the future of the fraternities is uncertain, a UNC representative said the school regularly has national organizations express an interest in establishing chapters on campus.
