The bonds of brotherhood were called into question last week when pledge members of the fraternity Kappa Delta Phi posted questionable and disturbing content in a secret Facebook group to which only certain members of the organization were invited.
Posts within the group singled out members of the fraternity with abusive comments and threatening language. The comments gradually became more and more of a problem as they went on, causing there to be a real concern for the safety of those who were mentioned in the comments and posts. The comments consisted of racist, homophobic and slanderous content. One fraternity member in particular felt physically threatened by those who had been involved in the online group. The threats were enough to cause the student to notify Campus Police with a formal complaint.
The situation was brought to the attention of SCG immediately leading to an emergency By-Laws/Adjudication meeting on Dec. 7 to discuss the situation. The meeting quickly went into executive session during which the campus media needed to vacate the room.
No official comments have been made concerning the situation. The students and faculty involved declined to comment on the incident.
This isn’t the first time there has been an issue since the fraternity was re-established. Just last year, the RIC chapter of the Kappa Delta Phi Fraternity was re-established after having been disbanded back in the 90s. Back in April, a disagreement between Kappa’s executive board members and its regular members occurred when there was a proposed amendment to enable the Greek community to be more self-sustaining. The members behaved inappropriately during the meeting, expressing vulgar language.
What will be done with the students is still being debated. It could take up to 42 days for the commission to decide upon what should be done. The event could lead to possible expulsion or even disbandment of the fraternity all together. For now, the fraternity is remaining in suspended status until this is issue is settled.
– With additional reporting by Anchor Editor Katelyn Hurd.
