Fraternity cuts ties with CSULB amid sexual misconduct investigations

A Cal State Long Beach student may have been sexually assaulted by members of a local fraternity about five months after the university temporarily suspended the organization in the wake of three other sexual misconduct allegations, documents show.

The fraternity, Sigma Chi, dropped its affiliation with the university in May 2018, but continues recruiting students and participating in city events, the Southern California News Group, publisher of this newspaper, has learned.

The student reported the alleged assault to the university, and a Title IX investigation found it more likely than not that she had been assaulted, according to documents detailing the investigation. She did not, however, file a complaint with the Long Beach Police Department. The student, who said she was assaulted after attending a Sigma Chi party in July 2017, told SCNG she was unaware the fraternity had been suspended from the university in February of that year.

The student’s name is being withheld, as she is the victim of an alleged sexual assault and requested anonymity. SCNG verified her identity through multiple sources.

But several months before that student’s alleged assault, university officials suspended Sigma Chi. The suspension, in February 2017, came after the university received three sexual assault accusations against members of the fraternity, said Jeff Klaus, the university’s associate vice president for student life and development.

Separately, Long Beach Police Department officials have said they received multiple reports of sexual assault involving the fraternity, though they declined to say whether those reports are linked to the university allegations.

No criminal charges have been filed against members of Sigma Chi.

Sigma Chi has expelled two Long Beach members over sexual misconduct allegations, according to Michael Church, the executive director of the fraternity’s international headquarters; he did not respond to questions about whether those claims were ever investigated by police.

In May, frustrated by how long the sexual-assault investigations were taking and the university not providing a timeline for when they’d wrap up, the fraternity disassociated from Cal State Long Beach, Church said.

As a disassociated fraternity, Sigma Chi is not subject to the university’s rules, but it is also no longer allowed to brand itself as affiliated with Cal State Long Beach.

Still, some have raised concerns about Sigma Chi members not being fully transparent about their newfound independence. That raises questions about whether recruits sign on to the organization thinking it still has the university’s stamp of approval; what real consequences, if any, Long Beach fraternities face for the conduct of their members; and how much authority Cal State Long Beach and city officials have over Greek life.

The imbroglio underscores an ongoing conversation nationwide about the role fraternities play in the epidemic of sexual assault on college campuses. Up to a quarter of female university students, studies show, are assaulted at some point in their academic careers.

“Historically, fraternities haven’t had the best reputation around sexual violence,” said Brenda Kaye Ingram, USC’s program director of relationship and sexual violence prevention and services. “There’s a testosterone environment with a lot of alcohol consumption and casual sex, which is highly correlated sometimes with sexual violence.

“That’s been the history,” Ingram added, “but I know that a lot of Greek organizations are working to change that image and culture.”

Sigma Chi severs ties to university

Church, who’s been Sigma Chi International’s executive director since 2014, said the incidents that led to its two members’ expulsion occurred before the fall 2017 semester, away from the chapter’s property and were “not associated with any chapter activity.”

Officials for Sigma Chi International – headquartered in Illinois and overseeing 242 undergraduate chapters in the U.S. and Canada – reached out to the university in hopes of restoring the chapter to its active status. But Cal State Long Beach would not expedite its investigative process and, Church said, the fraternity could not get a timetable on when the investigation would end.

As a result, Church said, Sigma Chi had only one option left: In May 2018, it severed ties with Cal State Long Beach. By dissociating, Sigma Chi declared itself not subject to any Cal State Long Beach rules or penalties – though Church said Sigma Chi still expects its members to follow the university’s and fraternity’s guidelines on health and safety.

Klaus said that the university would not consider lifting the suspension until all of the individual Title IX investigations were completed. At that time, if the investigations found no wrongdoing had occurred, the interim suspension would be lifted immediately. But if the investigations found sexual misconduct did occur, the university could either suspend the fraternity for a longer period of time or remove the fraternity’s charter, he added.

Sigma Chi – which took a 15-year hiatus, until 2014, after its umbrella organization found it violated hazing policies – is the first fraternity Klaus knows of that has broken away from Cal State Long Beach and remained independently active.

Church claimed the university dragged its feet on conducting the investigations for so long that the fraternity had no choice but to disassociate itself.

“The university kept the chapter on cease-and-desist for seven months without beginning an investigation into the chapter,” Church said, “and declined several times to collaborate with Sigma Chi International Fraternity on several suggested pathways of potential restoration efforts during that time period.”

Klaus countered that university investigations of sexual misconduct are inherently long.

“When you have three different cases, it took and has taken a significant amount of time to go through the process,” said Klaus, who confirmed two of the three cases the university investigated prior to Sigma Chi’s suspension are closed. He declined to say whether the other remains open, citing privacy concerns.

When someone reports sexual harassment or abuse to the university’s Title IX office, an investigation ensues. The Cal State University system, as well as the University of California, uses the preponderance of evidence standard – implemented under President Barack Obama – meaning that if investigators find a 51 percent chance the allegations are true, they must side with the victim. (President Donald Trump has allowed the clear-and-convincing standard, a much higher burden of proof, though not as rigorous as the beyond-reasonable-doubt standard.)

If the university rules in favor of the victim, it must then determine the penalty, such as expelling or suspending the student against whom the allegations were made.

“We encourage victims of sexual harassment and assault to please come forward,” Cal State Long Beach spokeswoman Terri Carbaugh said. “When they do, we must also ensure due process for all parties and adhere to Title IX guidelines. Title IX offers several layers of appeals and the process may feel slow and painful for those involved.”

Victims are also encouraged — but not required — to report the incident to the proper law enforcement agencies, officials said. Title IX prohibits university officials from reporting allegations to law enforcement, even if they find sexual misconduct occurred, without consent from the accuser.

Cal State Long Beach University Police received no criminal complaints related to Sigma Chi members, said Lt. Rick Goodwin.

And any criminal complaint that’s alleged to have occurred off-campus would be handled by the Long Beach Police Department – rather than university police – even if the incident happened at a university-affiliated fraternity or sorority house. (The Title IX office can investigate incidents that occur off-campus, as long as the accused is affiliated with the university.)

On Dec.14, 2016, the city’s Police Department received a report of a sexual assault at a multi-unit housing complex in the 4200 block of East Seventh Street, spokeswoman Nancy Pratt said; the specific address is in the same building as Sigma Chi’s registered housing.

“This incident was investigated by the LBPD’s Sex Crimes Detail,” Pratt said. “The case was presented to the L.A. County District Attorney’s Office; however, the D.A.’s office declined to file charges.”

The D.A.’s Office said it couldn’t look up the case, or the reason for not prosecuting, without the names of those involved. The Police Department would not divulge the names.

Accusations of two additional sexual assaults, allegedly occurring in February 2017 at other spots in Long Beach, also referenced Sigma Chi members in initial police reports, Pratt said. But that information was not verified because the victims did not desire prosecution, and detectives subsequently stopped investigating both cases, she said.

The Police Department received those reports on March 22, 2017, and on May 5 of this year. University and police officials, citing privacy concerns, declined to say whether the incidents investigated by police were the same as those reported to the Title IX office.

Fraternities disassociate from universities

Despite no longer affiliating with Cal State Long Beach, Sigma Chi continues operating independently in the city and recruiting members on social media.

In October, the fraternity advertised a cancer research fundraiser that would be near the daily Yoga on the Bluffs event on Ocean Boulevard. But Dharma Shakti, the organizer of Yoga on the Bluffs, asked Sigma Chi in a Facebook post to remove the advertisement.

In the post, Shakti said she learned – though she didn’t disclose from whom – of the sexual misconduct allegations and Sigma Chi’s disassociation from Cal State Long Beach.

“We do not want to be affiliated with this group,” she added.

Shakti did not respond to requests for comment.

But Sigma Chi moved the fundraiser to Second Street.

On Saturday, Oct. 13, nearly 20 people gathered around a Sigma Chi tent and booth near Second Street and Corona Avenue for the fundraiser. Most wore clothes with the fraternity’s logo, also known in the Greek community as “letters.”

When approached by an SCNG reporter, several members at first said the fraternity was connected to the university. But pressed further about the organization’s ties to Cal State Long Beach, those members clarified that they are not officially affiliated with the university.

They added that the branch chose to pull its affiliation with Cal State Long Beach because the annual fees at the school were too expensive, contradicting Church’s reasoning. But member Ricky Contreras blamed university regulations, saying they are too strict on fraternities. He declined further comment.

But Klaus said he stands by the university’s decision. Investigations, particularly those related to sexual assault, take time and should not be expedited, he said.

“We are kind of hard on the fraternities who are alleged to have sexual assault,” Klaus said of the cease-and-desist of Sigma Chi. “That’s a position we’re comfortable taking.”

But there are limits to how far the university’s reach extends.

Kirsten Hernandez – a senior who said she once was friends with Sigma Chi members and knows some of the alleged victims – said, for example, she still sees the fraternity’s brothers wearing their letters on campus, which frustrates her.

Members of Sigma Chi can wear the letters on campus because of free speech rights, Klaus said. However, they are barred from recruiting new members on campus.

“People are allowed to wear different shirts, sweatshirts, people (can have) conversations – they cannot (recruit) in a formal way,” Klaus said. “If we were to observe it, we can absolutely address it.

“I personally don’t like to see the disaffiliation from the university,” Klaus continued, “because that inhibits our ability to step in and work with the organization and the chapter members (to ensure members are conducting) themselves appropriately.”

Adding to the confusion of possible recruits, the Interfraternity Council, which oversees Greek life at the university, had Sigma Chi listed on its website as an official IFC chapter until Oct. 15, when SCNG brought it to the university’s attention.

That has led some students to feel there isn’t enough awareness of the fraternity’s independence.

“If you’re an incoming freshman,” Hernandez said, “you don’t know the history of the organization, of the sexual assault allegations.”

Klaus added that the fraternity’s ongoing operations could cause problems if it ever wanted to get back in the university’s good graces.

“This is why — for an organization like this in the future — we’d be hard pressed to want to bring them back,” he said. “Doing this puts everyone in a bad situation.”

Meanwhile, all of the Cal State Long Beach fraternities and sororities are off-campus, and the city of Long Beach does not require Greek organizations to have an association with the university.

The city can, however, investigate garden-variety regulation issues, such as code violations, noise complaints and nuisance abatement, said Richard De La Torre, a spokesman for the city’s development services.

“The city could also respond to other public safety or law enforcement concerns brought to the attention of the (Police Department),” he added.

Nationally, other fraternities have disassociated from their universities – and in response, cities have begun updating their zoning codes to limit Greek housing for frats and sororities not affiliated with schools.

In July, for example, the Ann Arbor City Council, in Michigan, voted in a new zoning code because of Greek organizations disassociating from the University of Michigan, according to the college’s paper.

And this fall, Sigma Chi and four other fraternities disassociated from West Virginia University.

The university in September sent a letter to Sigma Chi members and parents announcing the chapter had broken ties with West Virginia University the month before. The chapter had put itself on interim suspension, the letter said, so the fraternity could conduct its own investigation into multiple allegations of misconduct – for substance abuse, fights, sexual impropriety and hazing.

The same month the university published its letter, officials levied a 10-year ban on Sigma Chi and the other four fraternities that disassociated. Sigma Chi’s international organization rebutted the university’s statement, saying the university was “mudslinging” by referencing issues the fraternity had “already resolved with WVU.”

One student’s accusation

The Cal State Long Beach student who said she was sexually assaulted at a Sigma Chi party in July 2017 also said she was not aware the fraternity had been suspended several months before.

“I went to the frat house and (two members) had given me drinks,” she told SCNG. “I was intoxicated and it felt as if they had ‘roofied’ or drugged my drink, because it wasn’t a party night for me, and something made me feel dizzy or foggy.

“I wasn’t sure what was going on,” she continued. “But two of the members walked me back to an apartment building around the corner. They brought me into a bed, both of them got into the bed, and then forced themselves on me.”

One of the members eventually got up and left the room, according to statements made to the university by both the female student and that member who left. Title IX investigators interviewed that member as a witness.

The second member, according to the female student’s statement to investigators, remained in the room and assaulted her.

The female student said she told several close friends about the assault; shortly after the alleged attack, SCNG independently confirmed, she spoke with two sorority sisters about it. But the student, after being discouraged by some of her other friends, initially opted not to report the incident. That’s not uncommon, however, with studies showing the vast majority of campus assaults go unreported.

But in October 2017, the young woman changed her mind and filed a report with the university’s Title IX office. The ensuing investigation determined that, based on the preponderance of evidence, one of the two Sigma Chi members identified by the student had in fact committed sexual misconduct, according to the Title IX documents obtained by SCNG. That student was suspended from the university for two years, according to the documents.

SCNG was unable to determine whether that student was one of the two Sigma Chi members expelled by the fraternity’s international organization.

Church did not respond to multiple calls and emails requesting comment about this student’s alleged assault, which occurred about five months after Sigma Chi was suspended by the university.

Reached by phone at his South Carolina law firm, Sigma Chi International board President Tommy Geddings declined to comment, saying he didn’t want to participate in “media games.”

Geddings added that he didn’t want to contradict Church.

The female student said she never contacted police, even after filing the report with the Title IX office, because three months had lapsed and she feared there wasn’t enough evidence to support her assault claims.

She has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, she said in an interview and a Title IX impact statement. She took this semester off and plans to do the same next semester, she added.

She said she still plans to get her degree but isn’t sure she’ll get it at Cal State Long Beach.

“My life is altered now,” she said. “I was supposed to graduate this year and I can’t even go on campus anymore.”