The Gamma-Sigma chapter of Lambda Chi Alpha at SMU has been suspended by the national office. The Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity Board of Directors announced the decision March 14, and the closure will last a minimum of five years.
According to Director of Communications Tad Lichtenauer, the suspension immediately makes all active members inactive and they may not represent the fraternity, display any of the fraternity’s emblems or symbols or gather as a fraternity. After graduation, the members may apply for alumni status in good standing.
“The Board of Directors took this action in response to multiple operational and new member incidents that violated the oaths and rules of our fraternity,” said Director of Chapter Services Nick Zuniga in a press release.
The fraternity is ending its claim as the longest continuously running fraternity on campus after its installation in 1921, though this is not the first time Lambda has had conflict with the national office.
In 2010, headquarters expelled 35 out of the 92 active members and an additional 14 resigned after a membership review. The chapter had been put on probation by nationals and deferred probation by SMU after incidents with the chapter’s philanthropy “Watermelon Bash” event.
As a message to headquarters, the chapter hung a sign Monday afternoon from the upstairs windows of the house. The sign originally said “THE END IS NEAR!,” but was changed to say “THE END IS NOW!”
Many of the fraternity’s members also shared the post on Facebook.
No members of the SMU chapter have agreed to speak on the record to The Daily Campus.
