137-Year-Old Kappa Alpha Theta Chapter Kicked Off University Of Michigan Campus

It’s a sad day when any chapter is disbanded by a university. It’s a really sad day when that chapter happens to be the oldest sorority on campus. It has been confirmed that the Eta Chapter of Kappa Alpha Theta was disbanded by its national organization on Monday for “serious violations.” A spokeswoman for the national chapter resleased the following information in an e-mail:

Despite ongoing support and education provided to the chapter by Fraternity officers and staff, recent chapter activities constituted serious violations of Fraternity policies and were contrary to the Fraternity’s basic principles.

Apparently the chapter was previously suspended in January for violations including hazing and underage drinking. The next month, representatives from nationals visited the school to talk to the girls about following university policies. Theta’s national president wrote a letter to the chapter members, explaining circumstances behind the decision to permanently disband the chapter:

On February 10, Vice-President Mandy Wushinske and I visited campus and met with members of your cabinet and university administrators including the dean of students. At that time it was clearly stated that all members and new members of Eta Chapter were to adhere to all sanctions from the university and the Fraternity. It is disappointing that the chapter violated both the university and fraternity sanctions last week.

So we don’t know for sure what happened. What we do know is that this house, a chapter that has been on campus since 1879, lost everything they had spent over a century building in a span of two months. It’s possible that these girls really messed up. It’s also possible that a minor infraction is to blame, and that the University severely overreacted to a non-problem. Either way, it’s a shame that Michigan’s oldest University was so quick to disband an organization that shares its historical roots. It’s also a shame that sorority nationals tend to be so much tougher on rule infractions and notoriously more unforgiving than fraternity nationals.

Students living in Theta were notified that they can remain in house until the end of April. My condolences to these women, who lost their home away from home so abruptly. Pour one out for me, ladies. Here’s to better days. .

***UPDATE***

Throughout the day, we were sent several potential leads regarding Theta’s removal. Some students claimed the girls had released a video on Pornhub (which turned out to be false), while others said that an orgy broke out. None of this was confirmed. The following video which was removed from YouTube, allegedly features Thetas at Michigan during a serenade in a dorm, and is supposedly the reason for their removal.

It was a recording of a Snapchat story which featured a couple making out, followed by a series of photographs of bachelorette party style paraphernalia. The snap story ended with four couples making out, covered in chocolate syrup, in a row.