Students and faculty reflect on the changing relationship between fraternities and campus judicial affairs
By EMME DUNNING — features@theaggie.org
Recent disciplinary actions by UC Davis’ Office of Student Support and Judicial Affairs (OSSJA), including the suspension and disaffiliation of multiple Greek life organizations in the past year, have sparked disagreement on the role of campus administrators in the affairs of these organizations and brought up questions about the future of Greek life at UC Davis.
Stacy Vander Velde, the director of OSSJA, outlined the core goals of her organization in a written statement.
“The mission of the Office of Student Support and Judicial Affairs, or OSSJA, is to uphold standards of academic honesty and responsible behavior, promoting student development and assisting students in need,” Vander Velde said, adding that their major goals of student discipline are to “uphold university standards; provide fair resolution in cases of alleged misconduct with respect for the rights of students and organizations, reporting parties, and the campus community; promote the growth and development of students involved in the disciplinary process; and support the safety and security of the campus community.”
Despite these goals, some students don’t believe that OSSJA’s current operations are helping to create the environment that they claim to support.
Kobina Arkaah, a UC Davis alumnus with a Bachelor of Science in neurobiology, physiology and behavior and former member of Sigma Chi, is among these students.
While a UC Davis student, Arkaah served leadership roles within his fraternity as the master of ritual and coordinator of chapter character enrichment, as well as the new member educator. In addition, he held both vice president and president positions for the Interfraternity Council (IFC). Arkaah asserted that his involvement in Greek life and Sigma Chi specifically was instrumental in shaping his college experience.
“It taught me a lot about being a man and about being a better and more thoughtful leader,” Arkaah said. “I love how much people care and how much pride people take in being in Sigma Chi.”
Sigma Chi is among the fraternities currently dealing with revocations from OSSJA that have been instructed to cease all operations until the fall of 2029, according to the OSSJA website. These revocations were put in place after the fraternity was originally placed on “cease-and-desist” following hazing allegations this past fall and failed to adhere to the terms of their temporary cease-and-desist order.
Arkaah noted, however, that these “terms” of cease-and-desist can often be confusing and constraining to individual rights.
“One thing that’s been a big issue for my fraternity for a lot of people was that they were infringing on our rights as humans and not on our rights as members of our fraternity [during cease-and-desist],” Arkaah said. “They have jurisdiction over us as members of a fraternity but they do not have jurisdiction over us as humans.”
This is specifically an issue, Arkaah said, when gatherings of members of the fraternity are treated by OSSJA as equal to fraternal events, and therefore breaches of cease-and-desist in the same way as official fraternity-sponsored events. As many members of the fraternity have become a close-knit community in their own right and socialize outside of official events, this can blur the line between what is acceptable and what is not regarding conduct.
Other revoked fraternities like Alpha Epsilon Pi have continued to operate openly without affiliation from the school despite outlined sanctions.
Matthew Friedenthal, a fourth-year economics major and Alpha Epsilon Pi member, reflected on his experience being part of a disaffiliated fraternity and even noted some perceived benefits to their current situation.
“You have a lot more flexibility,” Friedenthal said. “You don’t really have to ask the school for permission for anything.”
Despite the added freedom, Friedenthal also recognized the drawbacks of this status, specifically the lack of ability to associate with other Greek life organizations.
“It evidently looks a little more sketchy,” Friedenthal said. “It’s a big pull when you are trying to recruit to say, ‘We’re a part of the greater Greek life, you’ll be able to meet so many people in sororities and fraternities.’ If you’re not affiliated, it’s significantly harder.”
This sentiment is substantiated by the UC Davis Center for Student Involvement website, which has a section on its misconduct page that outlines recommendations for interactions with disaffiliated organizations. For involvement with Alpha Epsilon Pi, the website asserts that “UC Davis and the Center for Student Involvement recommends strongly against joining or collaborating with this group.”
In spite of the hardships the fraternity has faced regarding its operations at UC Davis, Friedenthal asserted that due to the differing goals of both organizations, a reaffiliation is unlikely to happen.
“I don’t see us reaffiliating,” Friedenthal said. “The costs outweigh the benefits for both sides.”
Others, like Arkaah, believe that there is a path forward for improved relations, but say it will take significant work from both administration and fraternity members. He specifically believes that student IFC members should hold a more substantial role in investigations into Greek life.
“IFC should be working with OSSJA,” Arkaah said. “There’s no one to truly advocate for fraternities, and that should be the whole point of the IFC. I think the reason why people get elected into (IFC) positions is because they’re level-headed and they’re able to advocate for the people that they govern, and I think that should be important to OSSJA.”
Arkaah made clear that his envisioned role for IFC is not to blindly side with the fraternities that they represent, but rather ensure that a balanced perspective is given and appropriate steps are taken to remedy any wrongdoing in a manner that is timely and clear.
“IFC should be involved in gathering facts and advising on what should be done about a given situation,” Arkaah said. “The people in OSSJA aren’t in college, and they make decisions that may sometimes seem far-fetched and unfair, or maybe sometimes aren’t harsh enough. I think [the] IFC should be there to advocate for what should be a proper ruling.”
Arkaah also noted that fraternity members and OSSJA staff have a shared responsibility to contribute to the future of a successful relationship.
“I’ve worked with OSSJA closely, and I think these are good people,” Arkaah said. “OSSJA is not sitting around trying to catch people — their job is to deal with people who get reported. People need to be reporting things that are important. I think sometimes the less important things end up getting reported and the really important things don’t, and that is not their fault.”
While the future of the relationship between Greek life organizations and campus administrators is unknown, successfully continued operations and shared goals rely on the creation of a thriving campus and community environment. How these goals will align moving forward remains to be seen.
Written by: Emme Dunning — features@theaggie.org
