Last April, an incident occurred within the walls of the Theta Xi Fraternity chapter house located at 1490 Sage Avenue. The incident was unacceptable and regrettable. Actions were taken against parties involved and the situation has since been resolved. However, widespread speculation and hearsay surrounded the incident, fueling campus-wide, unsubstantiated rumors aimed not only at the individual at fault, but also at the brotherhood he was a member of.

At this point, the brothers of Theta Xi would like to address the issue and dispel any misconceptions held about the events that occurred last spring, their repercussions, and where we stand as an organization.

During the Spring 2004 semester, a member of our house was under investigation, by local authorities, for distributing the illegal drug LSD from his personal room in the chapter house. Meanwhile, the issue of that particular member’s behavior and demeanor was raised within the house, and the brotherhood brought stern action against him.

However, unbeknownst to the brotherhood, the situation was far more serious than anyone realized. With two weeks remaining in the semester, local authorities served the brotherhood with a warrant authorizing the search of the suspected member’s personal bedroom. The officers collected and removed evidence from his room and the suspected member was taken into custody.

The consequences for the individual were severe. He was sentenced to five years of probation by the State of New York for his actions. His conduct left no choice for the Institute but to expel him, thereby costing him a Rensselaer degree two weeks before his own graduation. Lastly, for conduct unbecoming of a brother, his membership in Theta Xi fraternity was terminated.

There were also repercussions for the chapter. Immediately after the arrest, RPI placed the organization on temporary suspension pending judgment of the degree of accountability the brotherhood should be responsible for. The judicial process continued into this current semester. The school decided that the brotherhood as a whole should be held accountable for the actions of the individual member. The chapter received one and a half years of suspension from the time of the incident, with a two year probationary period to follow thereafter. Attempts to appeal the sentence using the framework laid out in the student handbook were rejected. At this point, the rulings stand as final.

Nevertheless, our brotherhood remains closely-knit. Currently, we have 39 active brothers within the chapter. The vast majority of us reside in the chapter house and conduct our lives together amongst each other as brothers and as friends. We are a menagerie of different majors, personalities, and cultures, but are all here for the same purpose. Each brother strives to look after one another, obtain an education, and earn his Rensselaer degree. We take pride in our house, our chapter’s history, and our brotherhood, both during times memorable and times regrettable.

Therefore at this point, we would like to dispel the misconceptions and rumors we have heard about ourselves that simply are untrue. First, there was no house-wide distribution network of illegal substances. The actions were solely those of the responsible individual. Our brotherhood does accept some level of accountability on the basis that the incident did occur within our walls. Whereas we respectfully disagree with the severity of its sentence, we accept the ruling of the Dean of Students Office and further, respect its resolve to protect the well-being of the Rensselaer student body.

We are deeply distressed by comments and rumors slandering our character. Allegations were made in both public and private forums alluding to further outside criminal and immoral activities. Such rumors that stemmed from this misinformation are just that, rumors. They are baseless, unfounded, and absolutely untrue. These things simply did not happen.

We are an organization of students getting their work done and sharing housing. We all try to commit ourselves to help fellow brothers remain on track. We value our friendships, and the house that fostered them. We are all brothers and look forward to remaining productive and beneficial members of the Rensselaer community.

If anyone has any questions or issue with the house they would like to address, always feel free to contact any brother, or the house elected Executive Board. Contact information can be acquired by getting online and visiting our house website at http://www.alphaofthetaxi.com.