An Ohio University fraternity was officially recognized as part of its national counterpart Sunday after a multi-year suspension.
The Ohio Gamma chapter of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity had its charter pulled by OU in 2006 after a series of offenses led the fraternity to be suspended, said Andrew Faulkner, president of SAE and a junior studying management information systems.
“We don’t focus on what has happened in the past,” Faulkner said, declining to say why the fraternity was suspended. “It’s been a difficult journey in getting us officially recognized as a fraternity again.”
Reinstating the chapter nationally gives the fraternity additional privileges and responsibilities, such as voting rights in the Interfraternity Council at OU.
The main challenge the colony faced before being reinstated was communication problems with the university, Faulkner said, adding that it’s not unusual to be re-charted halfway through the school year.
“It’s been a tedious process, and the journey had its ups and downs,” he said. “It all just depends on how the experience helped the fraternity grow.”
In 2010, SAE’s national financial housing corporation acquired the fraternity’s current house, at 57 E. State St., from the local landlord for more than $1 million, Faulkner said. In Fall Quarter 2011, the colony began to organize events that would eventually lead to the approval of the charter by Vice President for Student Affairs Ryan Lombardi, the dean of students at the time.
“A weight has been lifted,” Faulkner said. “With clear eyes and full hearts, we have great expectations for our chapter. We’re excited to do what the founding fathers of our fraternity had intended for us to do.”
As of Sunday, new members were formally inducted into the newly reinstated fraternity, bringing its active roster up to 66 members, said Ryan Tolle, coordinator of extensions for SAE.
Various alumni of the fraternity played a large role in helping current fraternity members with their charter. The reinstatement is an achievement, said Charlie Breneman, an SAE alumni coordinator who graduated from OU in 1967 with a degree in business administration.
“We organized monthly conference calls with them and advised them on how to make the colony a chapter again,” Breneman said. “I am so proud of them. I am so pleased that they’re back on campus.”
hy135010@ohiou.edu
