University sends Chi Psi back to the Lodge by Sarah Vollmann News Editor The University decided on Tuesday that Chi Psi will regain its house for next fall. After 75 years at “the Lodge,” 200 Church St., the Faculty and Student Affairs Committee (FSAC) voted late last Feb. to remove Chi Psi from program housing for at least one year. The decision resulted from repeated reports of alcohol and fire safety violations, unsatisfactory housing and living conditions, vandalism and possible hazing. “I think that in some ways they had lost sight of what the mission really was and there were certain members of the house who viewed Chi Psi as [sort of a] pub club,” said Dean of Student Services Mike Whaley. “There were a lot of behavioral and community standards concerns.” A committee consisting of Whaley, Dean of the College Freddye Hill, Director of Residential Life Jeff Ederer, Area Coordinator of Residential Life Jennifer Carriere, Associate Director of Residential Life Maureen Isleib and Wesleyan Student Assembly Chair of Student Affairs Committee Ryan Ungaro, determined that the Chi Psi brothers demonstrated that they were responsible enough to get their house back. “I think that they’ve worked really hard to remind themselves what the organization is really about, like community service, leadership, [and sponsoring events for the rest of the community],” Whaley said. Ungaro agreed. “They got their act back together and . . . will be responsible once they go back into the house,” he said. Ederer and Hill could not be reached for comment. Both semesters of this academic year, the brothers have participated in a variety of community service activities. At a blood drive, for instance, they helped with publicity and walked donors to and from tables. They blazed trails at the brownstone quarry in Cromwell. They also organized a comedy show at 200 Church St. for Middletown children with the campus groups Desperate Measures and New Teen Force. The plan for their program house has three parts. Firstly, the will organize social programs such as parties and concerts. Secondly, they will coordinate programs for the intellect and the arts. For example, since the ’92 Theater will be under construction next year, rehearsals for student-run plays can be held at 200 Church Street. Thirdly, the brothers plan to have community service programs like those they have done this year. “We’re trying to make community service an integral part of the program,” said Jeff DelViscio ’02, president of Chi Psi for the 2001 calendar year. Instead of frosh, who inhabit 200 Church St. this academic year, Chi Psi’s coed program house will have about 25-35 upperclassmen, about half of which will be Chi Psi brothers. The Wesleyan chapter of Chi Psi was suspended two years ago from the Chi Psi National Fraternity because they failed to pay dues. The brothers paid all off all of their debt in the fall of 2000, however. Wesleyan’s brothers attended the convention of the national fraternity last summer, and submitted a letter from it as part of their proposal to regain their house from the University. “We have good ties with the national at this point,” DelViscio said, adding that the brothers expect to regain their national status at this summer’s convention. McNally said that he felt the fraternity had suffered by failing to adjust to changes in University policies, but that now they have begun to catch up. He said that Ederer and Hill have noticed this, and that their attitude toward the fraternity has shifted accordingly between last Feb. and now. Still, some students oppose giving Chi Psi the house at 200 Church Street. “We thought the school was taking a big step towards getting rid of institutionalized sexism when the University took the house from Chi Psi,” said Joe Berman ’04, a member of Feminist Radicals Engendering Equity (FREE). “The student body and the administration need to do some soul-searching in terms of what fraternities mean and what it means to be supporting them.” Additional reporting by Andy Tillotson and Alden Ferro

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