Delta Upsilon suspends its Missouri chapter until 2018
ABC 17 News has confirmed that the Delta Upsilon International Fraternity Board of Directors has suspended its Missouri Chapter.
In a news release sent to ABC 17 News Tuesday morning, Delta Upsilon leaders said the move is a result of repeated violations of Delta Upsilon policy. DU officials say this suspension means all chapter operations have stopped indefinitely, and all initiated members have been placed on a suspended status. The fraternity is targeting 2018 as a possible return to campus.
The decision to suspend the chapter was made following a Nov. 19 hearing in which eight undergraduate members and two alumni advisors met with the Board of Directors. DU leaders say the chapter was notified on Dec. 5, after the fraternity, advisors and university worked through details and procedures for the suspension.
Delta Upsilon International director Justin Kirk called the MU chapter “important” to both the DU and campus community, but cited ongoing trouble the chapter has had at Mizzou.
“However, in recent years, the chapter has struggled to follow Fraternity policy despite unprecedented levels of support from staff, alumni and the university,” Kirk said.
The school’s Office of Student Conduct has sanctioned DU four times in the last three semesters, and had at least one other instance under investigation, according to school spokesman Christian Basi. ABC 17 News detailed them in a report in October, including alcohol overdoses at the house, people at the house running from police officers and an assault report involving someone pushing another down a flight of stairs. The school put DU on disciplinary probation in late September for a party on September 9 that led an MU police officer to say in an email, “DU has returned in full force as the usual problem it is.”
Basi said it respected the national group’s decision to suspend its chapter, and would work with DU when it wanted to reapply as a student organization.
“We expect to help them in any way that we can to make sure that the new chapter gets off on the right foot,” Basi said in an interview.
ABC 17 News has previously reported that the chapter was placed on temporary emergency suspension on Sept. 28. It then apparently held two more events that violated the terms of its temporary suspension.
The Board of Directors says it did not base any of its decision to suspend the chapter on the members’ alleged involvement in an incident with the Legion of Black Collegians on Sept. 27-28. ABC 17 News had reported in October that Delta Upsilon was no longer investigating its members for racial slurs.
DU officials say the chapter and LBC representatives have been working through a mediation process with the MU Office for Civil Rights & Title IX. They say they anticipate that this issue will be successfully resolved soon. In November, both group released statements about their efforts to improve relations.
The new release also mentioned reports of drug use in the fraternity that ABC 17 News first reported on back in October. It says, “Unsubstantiated claims of predatory drug use, which have been refuted by the International Fraternity, were also not considered in this decision.”
In a statement included in the news release, DU leaders said, “Delta Upsilon is committed to being an
integral, productive part of any campus community, therefore, we hold all of our members and chapters
accountable to a set of standards. Unfortunately, repeated failure to meet those standards led to this tough
decision.”
The chapter house is owned by a local house corporation of alumni, not the International Fraternity. DU leaders say those living their have the option to stay in the house through the spring semester, but says the men are prohibited from representing themselves as a chapter of Delta Upsilon.
