University of Michigan fraternities vandalize 2 ski resorts

[Nrdsb4]

Interesting comment from the parent organization of Sigma Alpha Mu:

“It is regrettable that these vandals, as well as the officers of the chapter, decided that avoiding personal accountability and/or university sanctions took priority over the welfare of the entire chapter; their lack of cooperation led to the university’s withdrawal of recognition of the entire chapter for a four-year period. Sigma Alpha Mu worked in cooperation with university officials and regretfully agreed with their request to close the chapter,” executive director Leland Manders wrote in a statement.

“I also fault the parents, because they didn’t impose their will on the students to make them deal with this and they had chances to do so.”

[MYOS1634]

In that context, what does it mean, that they’ve been placed “on alumni status”? It doesn’t sound like a punishment to me.
I’m thinking that the prosecutor is leaning on the three who were charged to either bear the full weight of the penalties or to give names.

[deb922]

Charges were filed today. It lead the news tonight, here’s what I could find online. http://www.upnorthlive.com/news/story.aspx?id=1180515

I’m not sure why the alumni status, except that not every member was on the ski trip and of those who were there, not all of them did this damage. I’m thinking this is how the national chapter handles a problem with one of its universities.

It’s not that unusual for a fraternity to be disbanded. I know a couple of fraternities at my D’s school were when she was there. They are disbanded until there are no more members on campus and then reorganized.

[Cardinal_Fang]

The president and treasurer [of Sigma Alpha Mu] are being charged with furnishing a place for consumption of alcohol and controlled substances by minors and a third member is being charged with malicious destruction of a building causing between $1,000 and $20,000 damages, which is a felony.

“We’re looking at charging some other members of the fraternity as well once the specific identification can more fully be developed,” said [Prosecutor Michael] Rola. “We got names, we got some other information but we also want to make sure that their charged with what they’ve done as opposed to what someone else did.”

http://www.upnorthlive.com/news/story.aspx?id=1180515#.VQzt42TF9-U

[UMDAD]

The national fraternity has filed a declaratory judgment action seeking confirmation it is entitled to all assets and funds from the defendant fraternity chapter after it was disbanded by the U of M for vandalism. Named defendants include the local chapter, 4 individuals and a bank.

[MYOS1634]

In lay terms what does it mean?

[romanigypsyeyes]

Update: http://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/index.ssf/2015/06/u-m_frater_takes_misdemeanor_p.html

One frat member took a plea deal for a misdemeanor.

[maya54]

@romanigypsyeyes. That’s exactly what you’d expect with respect to this sort of incident and a first time offender. A prosecutor would almost always offer a misdemeanor plea.

[deb922]

Thanks for the update, I hadn’t heard that.

[bclintonk]

There may be additional prosecutions of individuals if the member who took a plea deal agreed to name names as part of the agreement. In addition, the individuals involved are still potentially on the hook for $430,000 in damages claimed by the ski resort in its civil suit.

In that context, what does it mean, that they’ve been placed “on alumni status”? It doesn’t sound like a punishment to me.

Here’s the explanation offered by the national fraternity’s executive director, as reported by Emily Kerr in the Michigan Daily, the student newspaper:

According to Manders, alumni status means that the members cannot affiliate with another chapter, do not have the rights associated with undergraduate membership and are ineligible for SAM scholarships.

In other words, not only is their local chapter now defunct, but they’re no longer considered active members of the national fraternity and are ineligible for any benefits of membership, nor can they regain membership or membership benefits by joining another chapter of the fraternity, e.g., if they transfer to another school with an active chapter. It seems like a fairly mild “punishment,” but it’s hard to see how the national organization could have authority to impose any stronger sanctions than that. The consequences will be paid in the criminal and civil legal processes, and that’s as it should be.