His freshman year, Mark Boyd rushed three very different fraternities: Phi Kappa Psi, Sigma Alpha Epsilon and Kappa Sigma. Despite their differences and even rivalries, three years later all three groups find they now share the same fate-they are no longer University-recognized fraternities.
Boyd, now a junior who ended up in Kappa Sig, gained "former fraternity member" status Saturday, when Kappa Sig dissolved in the face of looming sanctions from its national organization and the University.
"[Saturday] was one of the saddest days of my life because my Duke experience would have been miserable without this frat," Boyd said. "You can say it's exclusionary and that we act like jackasses, but we're also a brotherhood."
Kappa Sig is the latest selective living group to have lost or given up University recognition in the last few years. The Annual Review Committee dissolved Old House CC in 2000 and Phi Psi in 2001. Facing restrictions similar to those Kappa Sig faced this year, SAE chose to disaffiliate from its national organization and the Interfraternity Council last January. Kappa Sig followed suit last weekend.
"I was sorry that [Kappa Sig] saw [dissolution] not only as an option but as their best option," Director of the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life and Assistant Dean of Students Todd Adams said. "I hope that does not become commonplace."
With groups going on and off social suspensions and probation fairly regularly, Boyd and some others predict that more groups may add "former" to their titles soon. Former SAE president Will Brown, a senior, said he has already heard of groups looking to take similar action.
Boyd predicted that Delta Sigma Phi--which is currently on probation for waiting until the next day to clean up a fraternity event--might be among them, but Delta Sig President Joe Elliott, a junior, disagreed.
"[Delta Sig] is trying to go the same way the University is going," Elliott said. "We're trying to increase our positive reputation, not just our social reputation."
IFC President Jeremy Morgan said no other groups were currently in trouble with their nationals--as SAE and Kappa Sig were--so he did not expect another group to follow soon. Morgan added that the same week Kappa Sig left IFC, another fraternity, Chi Psi, joined the greek umbrella group.
"The University has no problem with fraternities that aren't going to create a liability for them," SAE sophomore Alex Johnson said. "But for guys like us who throw big parties where there is a chance that students would abuse alcohol, the University would rather us be off campus."
Former Phi Psi president and junior Peter Menachem agreed, and was optimistic that, as more and more groups dropped University recognition, they would become more organized--not following Phi Psi's fate of not rushing a pledge class after it left campus.
Some suggest that Theta Chi fraternity might be the next to go. University officials placed Theta Chi on probation last semester and caught the group violating that probation earlier this year. Fraternity members are working on a proposed punishment to submit to the Office of the Dean of Students, although administrators have notified them of three other options: revoke their charter, not have a pledge class or lose housing.
One change that almost everyone agrees has happened is that the social scene has moved off campus. Although some rules--like sororities not mixing in male living quarters--came from organizations' headquarters, Kappa Alpha Order President Graham McWhorter said the University has a role in this evolution.
"A lot of the rules that have always been in place are now being enforced with more attention," said McWhorter, a senior.
Adams added that the shift from primarily greek-hosted social events to more off-campus events was not entirely negative. "Greeks can't be all things to all people all the time," Adams said. "For many years, they played the main role for on-campus social events.... It can be a large burden."
The alleged shift off campus does sadden many fraternity members, though many also believe the culture is now such that groups do not necessarily need University recognition to survive. Attributing Kappa Sig's decision last week in part to SAE's last semester, some said these decisions showed other groups that dissolution is an option.
Kappa Sig members predict their decision will have a similar destiny and effect on greek mentality.
"Phi Psi and SAE were maybe bigger shocks than we were because they were the first," said Jamal Knight, a junior in Kappa Sig. "Now it is more of a viable option."
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