University of Rhode Island chapters Tau Epsilon Phi, Sigma Alpha Epsilon and Alpha Chi Omega will all be off probation by Dec. 31, lowering the number of university chapters on probation from six to three.
Alpha Chi Omega will go off probation first on Dec. 20, according to the chapter status section of URI Greek Life’s website . Tau Epsilon Phi and Sigma Alpha Epsilon will follow shortly after on Dec. 31. Pi Kappa Alpha is facing chapter suspension until Dec. 31.
Alpha Chi Omega was put on probation after an incident in April regarding a violation of the alcohol policy, according to Stephen Simo, the assistant dean of students. Sigma Alpha Epsilon was put on probation in February after an incident that violated the alcohol policy, and Tau Epsilon Phi was put on probation in December 2023 for violating the hazing policy.
Chapters on probation can still operate, while suspended chapters cannot, according to URI chapter status.
The Office of Community Standards and staff at the headquarters of the fraternity or sorority involved put Greek chapters on probation, Simo said. This action is made after a student violates one or more URI Student Handbook policies. The amount of time a chapter is on probation varies depending on the case’s severity.
“Generally, when we look at a student conduct case, it’s about student learning and the officers and members typically learn from poor choices or mistakes made,” Simo said. “The reason behind that is for the chapter to get the message that that’s just not acceptable behavior, it’s against the values of Greek Life.”
When a chapter violates a policy in the handbook, they must follow a list of sanctions, Simo said. URI works with educational programs and the fraternity or sorority’s national headquarters to organize this list. Sanctions differ based on the group and what the issue was.
“If a poor decision is made around alcohol or hazing, the national office usually doesn’t want to see that, as well as the university, and we work in cooperation to make sure that those issues will get corrected,” Simo said.
Entering the spring semester, three chapters – Zeta Beta Tau, Phi Gamma Delta and Sigma Chi – will still be on probation, according to URI chapter status. Phi Gamma Delta and Zeta Beta Tau are scheduled to be released from probation in May 2025 and Sigma Chi is scheduled for Nov. 1 of that year.
While the number of chapters on probation was not strikingly unusual to Simo, he said there was definitely a noticeable difference looking at the behaviours of Greek Life after the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic acted as a catalyst in terms of students’ ability to comply with the rules.
Students needed to refresh their memory on risk management and procedures, which caused chapters to struggle with some incidents that had not previously been an issue, according to Simo.
“My gut says we’re a little higher than we normally would be,” Simo said.
Generally, chapters understand the rules and are living out the values promoted by Greek Life, according to Simo.
“If I was to put my finger on it, it’s been the re-learning after COVID,” Simo said. “I think it’s getting better, but those first couple years coming out of COVID were not easy ones.”
To learn more about the chapter status of URI fraternities and sororities, visit URI chapter status on the university’s Greek Life website .