The Illinois Wesleyan University Sigma Chi fraternity chapter has been suspended for three years following a hazing incident in April.
The incident occurred in the chapter house on Emerson Street in Bloomington. While officials have not given specifics on the hazing victim’s injuries, Karla Carney-Hall, Wesleyan’s vice president for student affairs, said the student was a first-year member of Sigma Chi.
The Alpha Iota chapter of Sigma Chi lost recognition on campus and is prohibited from gathering for meetings or activities as a group, including living in the chapter house and maintaining a social media presence, according to a school-wide email sent Wednesday morning.
Three students from the chapter went through a disciplinary process within the university, but the outcomes and their punishments, if any, are confidential. IWU said it plans to create a group of students and faculty to review existing hazing policies and expand awareness efforts.
While the group will also look at how fraternities and sororities affect the campus climate, Carney-Hall said some other students and alumni came forward to express their own hazing experiences after the April incident became public. Those incidents are also under review.
“These sanctions should not be seen as a loss of confidence in our campus leadership experiences or our fraternity and sorority community,” the university said in the email.
According to the Sigma Chi International Headquarters, the group has been working closely with Illinois Wesleyan and accepts the results of the investigation.
“The Executive Committee considers closing a chapter to be its last available option when resolving member accountability issues,” said Steve Schuyler, the international president of the group. “In this instance, however, our members actions and the severity of the circumstances made our decision for us. The Sigma Chi International Fraternity has a zero-tolerance policy for hazing. It is only by closing the chapter that we will be able to one day reestablish an environment at Illinois Wesleyan University that supports its students and our future members.”
Sigma Chi alumni will be allowed to gather at the university for some events like homecoming, but current students will not be allowed to attend the alumni events.
If reinstated with a new advisory board, the chapter can begin recruiting new members again in spring of 2025. That rechartered chapter would only be allowed to return to the chapter house if they have a live-in adviser that the chapter must pay for.
Sigma Chi had more than 65 members in the spring, with 30 living in the chapter house, Carney-Hall said.
