Hazing, rape allegations and probations rampant at UNT's Sigma Phi Epsilon

Article by Jelani Gibson (@JelaniGibson1) and Rebekah Schulte
Illustration by Austin Banzon

EDITOR'S NOTE:

This article is a rewritten and extended version of an article that appeared in the print version of the University of North Texas' student newspaper, the North Texas Daily, Sept. 26, 2019. That article was not posted online due to administrative demands. Once a second article was written and submitted for publication, the option to publish was declined and a recommendation was made it be taken elsewhere. As a result of that, it is publishing here instead. The print version of this article previously had a graph that accidentally lacked a caption explaining the context of crime data and a title. More detail can be found here.

Sincerely

-Jelani Gibson

-Andrew Wright  

The past seven years of Sigma Phi Epsilon's disciplinary history has involved a near constant number of disciplinary measures, hazing and rape allegations and multiple probations.

They were still allowed to recruit in the Fall.

Oct. 2012-2015:

University of North Texas officials confirmed that Sigma Phi Epsilon was put on probation in 2012 and had it extended for hazing.

“Sigma Phi Epsilon was put on probation in 2012 for distributing alcohol in a prohibited manner, and that probation was escalated to Level II Conduct Probation for two years in Fall 2013 after the fraternity was found responsible for hazing,” said UNT spokesperson Leigh Anne Gullet in an emailed statement. “The sanctions included a ban of social events during the probationary period, and required completion of educational programs on risk management and hazing by all members.”

July 16, 2015:

News outlet ThinkProgress published an article chronicling the experience of prospective member Derek Elrod, who accused the fraternity of hazing and homophobia in Fall 2013.

Sigma Phi Epsilon national headquarters releases a statement the same day alleging they made good faith efforts to remedy the situation and that Elrod's statements conflicted with other evidence and that he demanded monetary compensation.

Fall 2015:

Hazing is reported, according to what appears to be internal message documents from Sigma Phi Epsilon National Housing (SENH) administrative officials.

The University did its best to look into a 2015 allegation of hazing, said Dean of Students Moe McGuinness.

"[In] Fall 2015 nothing was substantiated, although DOS did their due diligence to look into rumors," she said.

Oct. 18 2015:

Probation is over for Sigma Phi Epsilon.

Sept. 2016:

In a 2016 UNT police report, Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity members were accused of raping a female victim and posting the video on a Snapchat page, before deleting it.

The report lists the alleged assault as taking place around Labor Day weekend at a house located on Tripp Trail in Denton.

In the police report, the sexual assault case was reported by a friend of the alleged victim, where she reported the assault was caught on video and posted to a Snapchat page titled “Mean Fu**ing Green,” before it was taken down.

The Denton Police Department received the 2016 case since the alleged offense occurred off-campus and attempted to contact the alleged victim who communicated that she did not want to pursue the case, said City of Denton Police Chief Frank Dixon.

“Without having the survivor come in and interview with us, we really have no means by which to conduct an investigation because you don’t have a complaining party,” Dixon said. “We can’t force someone who’s already suffered a traumatic event, especially something as traumatic as a sexual assault, to come in and disclose what happened to them. That would really break down everything that law enforcement has tried to fight over time, trying to get survivors to cooperate with us.”

Talking about sexual assault for any victim is an emotionally difficult task, Dixon said.

“Just being able to cooperate and get in front of a room full of strangers and tell such a horrific story would be mentally debilitating,” he said.  

Sexual assaults are challenging to solve due to the social stigmas and negative attention attached to them, Dixon said.

“Is anyone going to believe me? What are my friends going to think about me? Are guys ever going to want to date me? Am I ever going to get married? What’s going to happen at school? There’s just a litany of questions that I can’t even conceive that would be going on in her head,” Dixon said.

The department would still be ready to take the case, Dixon said.

“If she were to come in today and say she wanted to pursue it, we would take her statement and we would start the investigative process,” he said.

Fall 2017:

Hazing is reported again, according to what appears to be internal message documents from Sigma Phi Epsilon National Housing (SENH) administrative officials.

The university confirmed  2017 disciplinary allegations, but found no incidence of hazing, McGuinness said.

"The 2017 incident was not hazing. They were found responsible for violating university policies, distribution & use of alcohol to minors & acts affecting health, safety, or welfare by putting a couch in front of the door," she said in an emailed statement.

The fraternity is placed on probation until Feb. 15, 2019.

Feb. 2019:

Sigma Phi Epsilon is off of probation Feb. 15, 2019. Days later an alleged rape takes place at the fraternity's house.

When the victim took her complaints to the Dean of Students, the office claimed it did not find enough evidence to find the accused guilty of rape.

May 10, 2019:

The DOS office found the fraternity responsible for hazing and put them back on probation until April 2020, according to the Dean of Students website.

Sept. 2019-current day:

When the Daily asked Sigma Phi Epsilon’s national headquarters about the fraternity’s overall conduct in the past seven years, spokesperson Heather Kirk emailed a statement.  

“SigEp does not tolerate hazing, and for any allegation we receive, we partner with the university to investigate the concern,” Kirk said. “If hazing behaviors are identified, we work with the university to take appropriate action toward accountability and development. We are working closely with our chapter at North Texas to focus on its implementation of the Balanced Man Program, designed to prevent hazing and promote continuous member development.

There is no place in our fraternity experience for sexual violence, and SigEp takes any allegation of sexual assault very seriously,” Kirk continued. “Because of the sensitive nature of such reports of individual behavior, if we receive an allegation of sexual violence, we immediately provide that information to the University to investigate.”

Kirk was also asked to comment on what appeared to be Sigma Phi Epsilon National Housing memos that referenced the fraternity failing to implement the Balanced Man Program, being in debt and receiving reports of hazing in Fall 2015, Fall 2017 and Spring 2019.

Sigma Phi Epsilon headquarters refused to answer direct questions about the memos and re-sent the Daily its previous emailed statement.

The Dean of Students office confirmed the fraternity was investigated for hazing incidents and alcohol distribution within those time periods.

When shown the internal documents referring to the local chapter's finances and a planned cease of operations, the office denied having any knowledge of those problems.

"The Dean of Students office is not aware of this situation," McGuinness said. "I believe this is something from their Nationals, unrelated to UNT."

After Sigma Phi Epsilon headquarters re-sent the same response to the Daily's questions, a timeline of disciplinary incidents and alleged rapes was compiled by the Daily and Sigma Phi Epsilon officials were given an additional deadline to confirm, deny or dispute the timeline of all of the Daily’s findings.

It received none by deadline.

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