I am proud to be a part of SigEp and participate in the Lifelong Experience. I am also proud to be a Freemason with its long tradition.

Referring back to the article, I think it is probably unrealistic to expect a "full-on brotherhood experience" with more than about the 50 or so that would be considered "close friends". That does not mean, however, that the 150 number is meaningless. Rather, it is a realistic, and if the article is to be believed - hardwired, number of people we can relate to, and be relaxed and comfortable in their presence.

The inference I take from the article is that while 150 may not be the absolute maximum workable chapter size, you probably need to pay extra attention from the Exec and AVC levels to the risks of developing destructive factions and apathy in the membership when a chapter gets that large. And yes, factions and apathy can happen in any size chapter, but would seem to be more of a potential in a larger one.

I would imagine that the "four 50-man chapter" factor would be a large contributor when large chapters fall apart, seemingly going from a powerhouse to suspension or even loss of charter in a matter of months. We have several recent examples of that.

Stories like this are far and away the more accurate portrayal of what it is like to be a member of a college fraternity. The negative stories may sell more papers, but the bonds of brotherhood are the real story.

Tom, you are correct. the unfortunate side of this is that all the swift and cooperative action by both the chapter and the National HQ staff will not be covered in the press nearly as widely as the inflammatory action itself. Such is the nature of news reporting, I suppose. Meetings and workshops and training simply aren't as 'newsworthy' as a noose-draped statue.

There still needs to be an investigation to make certain everything happened as stated, but I hope that some work on recruiting "SigEp Material" is all that is needed.

There is the other issue of crisis management. This story exploded because of the sensitive matter of the history of the campus regarding the Civil Rights movement. Suspending the chapter while there is an investigation sends the right message even though some will choose not to see it. While I believe both the chapter and HQ did the right thing and did it quickly, it remains that some will see this as another example of institutional racism. I can attest that in SigEp as an organization that is simply not the case.

I found this text of the full statement on the Jackson MS "Clarion-Ledger" site: http://www.clarionledger.com/article/20140221/NEW...

After learning that three freshmen members of their chapter were responsible for desecrating the James Meredith statue on The University of Mississippi campus, the Mississippi Alpha Chapter of Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity quickly voted to expel all three men, turning over their identities to university administrators and investigating authorities.

SigEp’s CEO Brian C. Warren Jr. said Thursday, “It is embarrassing that these men had previously identified with our Fraternity. SigEp as a national Fraternity has championed racial equality and issues on diversity since 1959 when it became the first national fraternity to invite members of all races, creeds and religions to join its membership. For this to occur in 2014 is an insult to the legacy of James Meredith, The University of Mississippi community, and the SigEp alumni who fought for racial equality in the late 1950s.”

SigEp has indefinitely suspended its University of Mississippi Chapter and asked that the chapter cease all operations. The Fraternity staff is working with chapter and alumni-volunteer leadership to conduct an internal investigation. The Fraternity intends to conduct a comprehensive review of the membership to ensure members’ values align with those espoused by the Fraternity.

"We won’t allow the actions of a few men to undermine the more than five decades of leadership this Fraternity has demonstrated in the fight for racial equality and diversity on our college campuses,” said Warren.

Found it. See my new comment.

Often a comment says more about the person making it than it says about the original content.

Note carefully how the design of the RD blog is quite different from the main HQ page.
A sign of changes to come? I'm just sayin'.

Number 8??? Outrageous! We wuz robbed!

Well, I suppose there is nothing to do but get busy and elect some SigEps to Congress.