Sigma Alpha Epsilon Returns To Northwestern Following Suspension

EVANSTON, IL — Northwestern University administrators cleared the fraternity Sigma Alpha Epsilon to return to campus after it completed a one-year suspension. The Evanston-based group was forced to shutter its Northwestern chapter following an investigation by the university into allegations of possible drugging and sexual assaults at its house on campus. No disciplinary action was taken in response to reported assaults, but the chapter wound up getting suspended for unrelated reasons.

In January 2017, university police and administrators announced that multiple students reported they thought they may have been drugged and sexually assaulted at a party at an SAE house. In March, the university said it concluded its investigation into the reports and would not take further action against SAE or another unspecified fraternity.

But in April, SAE was suspended for violating the terms of its probation by repeatedly hosting parties with underage drinking. At the time, university spokesman Bob Rowley said the frat had shown "blatant disregard" for the terms of its probation. The frat had been in the midst of a probationary period through the end of 2017.

The fraternity will remain on alcohol and disciplinary probation upon its return, according to a release from the university's office of fraternity and sorority life. After a "membership review," which aims to weed out any problematic members, the frat's national headquarters said it picked 17 undergraduates to be allowed to return out of about 35 originally eligible.

The probationary period will last through the rest of the 2018-19 school year, according to a spokesperson for SAE's national headquarters, who said only eight students were initially expected to move back into the house the terms of the probation are contingent on the chapter's conduct over the course of the year.

The SAE house will also have a house director living at the chapter full-time during the fall quarter to serve as a mentor, according to the release. To ensure the "safety and wellness" of students, the fraternity will be "addressing ongoing expectations and standards set forth by both the university and their headquarters through education and increased measures of accountability," upon its return.

Last October, Northwestern's inter-fraternity council announced it would not recognize SAE until 2021, the Daily Northwestern reported. It said the local chapter had violated the terms of its suspension and continued to make the community "less and less safe." Earlier, a representative of SAE on the council claimed the fraternity has been the subject of harassment and death threats on the internet, according to the Daily, accusing the council of "discounting the rights of the accused."

A university spokesperson said previously no fraternity has been found responsible for sexual assault for, at least, the past 10 years. Delta Upsilon in 2013 was the last fraternity to be suspended at Northwestern. According to the Los Angeles Times, a lawsuit filed last month alleging the frat has not done enough to protect students from sexual misconduct and substance abuse said SAE chapters have also been sanctioned or ordered closed at Cal State Long Beach, UC Santa Barbara, UCLA, USC, Stanford, Yale and Cornell.

In 2017, shortly after Northwestern suspended the group, SAE was also banned from Loyola University Chicago until August 2020 after an investigation into an incident of hazing determined the group had been "engaging in disruptive and disorderly conduct that caused a disturbance in the neighborhood."

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