A Colorado State University fraternity where a 17-year-old girl drank so much alcohol she had to be hospitalized in September has been shut down for at least two years.
The CSU chapter of Sigma Alpha Epsilon was suspended by its national office over the weekend. The fraternity’s house will be boarded up and the 16 members who lived there will be directed to new housing by the fraternity’s alumni, said Brandon Weghorst, a spokesman for the national Sigma Alpha organization.
The decision to shutter the house came after an investigation of the drinking incident revealed violations of the fraternity’s conduct code, Weghorst said.
The fraternity can petition to regain its status as a viable CSU club or organization in spring 2008, Weghorst said.
“We felt this was the best way to move forward and help the chapter regain its place on campus,” he said. “This has always been a strong chapter, and we want to continue that tradition.”
CSU may also yank the Sigma Alpha charter pending the results of its own investigation, said Blanche Hughes, vice president of student affairs.
There is no indication yet if individual members of the fraternity will be disciplined by the university, Hughes said.
The national Sigma Alpha office and CSU put the local house on temporary hiatus after the girl, a CSU freshman, was taken to an emergency room for alcohol poisoning.
She reportedly went to the fraternity Sept. 15 with her boyfriend to get drunk for the first time. She drank six double shots of rum and whiskey in 30 minutes before friends accompanied her back to her dorm and an ambulance was called.
All CSU fraternities and sororities banned alcohol at their houses two years ago, unless it was served at chapter functions through a third-party vendor or establishment.
The Greeks made the decision to go “dry” after the alcohol-poisoning death of sophomore Samantha Spady, whose body was found in the house of a CSU fraternity Sept. 5, 2004. That fraternity is no longer on campus.
Staff writer Monte Whaley can be reached at 720-929-0907 or mwhaley@denverpost.com.
