In March, the sorority had been put on probation due to hazing. The chapter was given directives it had to follow for reinstatement this academic year. According to the Chi Omega release, national team representatives met with chapter members and university officials on Aug. 25 and decided those directives had not been met and ordered the chapter closed.
Chi Omega national representative, Beth Stavos, was en route to Wittenberg from Tennessee on Friday, Sept. 4, and could not be reached for comment. No other details were given.
The decision sent the university scrambling to find alternative housing for the 30 students in the chapter house at North Fountain Avenue and Ferncliff Place, said Sarah Kelly, Wittenberg’s vice president of students development and dean of students.
“We’ll be the first to admit the timing of this could not (have been) more inopportune,” she said. The students have all been relocated.
It is the second Greek institution to be ordered closed on the campus this calendar year. The national chapter of Delta Sigma Phi fraternity closed the chapter on March 23, for what Kelly called at the time “serious hazing incidents that put our students at risk both mentally and physically.”
Why two in one year?
“We’ve asked ourselves that,” Kelly said. “It’s a national trend that these (parent) organizations are way more willing to hold these students accountable.
“Activities that undermine the integrity of the university ... are not going to be tolerated.”
Chi Omega officials have not indicated when they might reestablish a presence on campus, she said.
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