Sigma Alpha Mu placed on interim suspension following hazing allegations
Photo Courtesy of Sam.org
The Hofstra University Delta Alpha chapter of Sigma Alpha Mu (SAM, also known as Sammy) was placed on interim suspension on Tuesday, Sept. 24, pending an investigation into the fraternity regarding allegations of hazing. These reports were brought to the attention of Public Safety by a student who was pledging but dropped out of the process. The student and two other people whom he asked not be identified provided the following account through a series of interviews with The Chronicle.
The allegations detail a string of “private rush events” that included physical contact with strippers, being kept in a steaming bathroom for one hour and what he described as the “big night,” an event with alumni that resulted in two inches of the student’s hair being burned off.
Hofstra University defines hazing in the 2019-2020 Guide to Pride as “any activity expected of someone joining a group, conducted for the purpose of initiation into or affiliation with a group, or expected of a group member to maintain full status in a group, where the activity is abusive, humiliating, degrading, excessive, or contrary to commonly accepted standards of decency, or risks emotional or physical harm.”
“The University condemns hazing of any kind. It is a violation of the University’s code of conduct and of state law,” the University said in a statement to The Chronicle on Thursday, Sept. 26. “The Sigma Alpha Mu chapter at Hofstra has been placed on interim suspension pending the outcome of an internal investigation.”
The student said he decided to join the organization after encouragement from two former friends who are both members of SAM. “I never explicitly said hazing, but I brought it up a few times. [The two members and former friends] said, ‘Oh, there’s a couple tough moments but nothing too crazy.’”
The student went to university-approved rush events, like a barbecue and bowling night. When asking a friend, who is a member of the organization, about the pledge process, the friend said, “It’s a lot of mental stuff, we won’t do anything physical.”
The student detailed a series of “private rush events” that followed. All events took place at an off-campus house affiliated with the fraternity located on Greengrove Avenue in Uniondale. “You got invited to a private rush event if they liked you before the bid,” he said. He explained that the brothers would text the pledges very vague information when inviting them to the house.
“They have a policy once you got into the fraternity, they taught you about C.U.P.S. [Cooperation, Unity, Pride, Secrecy],” he said. “The ‘S’ stands for secrecy. Every time they said secrecy, one of the brothers would go, ‘This is how we got away with what we do for so long. If we find out that you said anything, we will find you and we will beat the shit out of you because we have eyes everywhere on campus.’”
The student said that on Friday, Sept. 13, there were contracted strippers present at the house. “I was told that there was physical contact with the strippers,” he said.
Executive Director of SAM Nationals Andy Huston confirmed in a phone call with The Chronicle that Maurice “Mo” Cortes, an educational leadership consultant for SAM Nationals, was assigned to Hofstra’s chapter that weekend. “He had a chapter visitation that happened on September 12th to 14th,” Huston said. “It was on campus, but he did not witness any activities that violated fraternity policy.”
“A chapter visit is when a staff member goes, travels around the country, provides general education to the officers and members. It happens throughout the school year, his just happened to be at the beginning of the school year ... he said during the time he didn’t observe anything that was a violation of university or fraternity policy,” Huston said. “It’s possible that something happened while he was on campus, but he wasn’t participating or observing any violations.”
During one of the “private events” on Thursday, Sept. 19, the student explained that the brothers “put you in a bathroom for an hour, it got really steamy. It was turned to the max, it steamed up the room.” That same evening, the pledges were led downstairs in the house as part of initiation. “You would go downstairs, and they were all standing there in a dark room with only a candle lit and they had their hoods on. And that’s when you learned who your big was and when they gave you your [handbook].”
The Chronicle obtained a copy of the national SAM candidate handbook. Page 45 of the Risk Management Policy under “Hazing” states, “No chapter, colony, student, or alumnus shall conduct nor condone hazing activities. Hazing activities are defined as: ‘Any action taken or situation created, intentionally, whether on or off fraternity premises, to produce mental or physical discomfort, embarrassment, harassment, or ridicule. Such activities may include but are not limited to the following: use of alcohol; paddling in any form; creation of excessive fatigue; physical and psychological shocks; quests; treasure hunts, scavenger hunts, road trips, or any other such activities carried on outside or inside of the confines of the chapter house; wearing of public apparel which is conspicuous and not normally in good taste; engaging in public stunts and buffoonery; morally degrading or humiliating games and activities; and any other activities which are not consistent with academic achievement; fraternal law, ritual or policy; or the regulations and policies of the educational institution, or applicable state law.’”
Finally, at what the student described as the “big night,” on Saturday, Sept. 21, two inches of his hair were burned off. “They said, ‘His hair is too long. It’s like a girl. Maybe we should just cut it off.’ They put a lighter close to the hair, illuminating it, [a member] got too close, burning it off,” the student said. “One of [the alumni] spat on me, multiple members who were in the back were flicking cigarette butts. Two cigarette butts hit me in the head, one hit me in the hand,” the student said. “Whenever there was a hit, they would cheer.”
After this, the student ran out of the house and drove to a close friend’s house. Two of the people who were in that house that night, but asked not to be identified, gave the following account.
“I’m at my friend’s house near campus and all of a sudden he comes banging on the door, he’s in shock, dripping in sweat and panicking,” one of the people in the house at the time wrote in a text message to The Chronicle. “So me and my friend told him to come in take some water, take a breather, and tell us what happened. He explains he was hazed at Sammy. They pulled and cut off his hair as well as burned it. They harassed him and screamed, degrading him as well. After he caught his breath, we urged him to go to PSafe and report what happened.”
According to another person in the house, “He told us he had his hair pulled, burned and had cigarette butts thrown at him on top of the verbal abuse he had been experiencing,” he said in a text message to The Chronicle. “I hated seeing him like that ... seeing someone so distraught with no clue what to do next broke all of our hearts.”
The student also alleged that an Instagram post published by a member of the organization on Thursday, Oct. 10, was “trying to get a negative response” out of him. In the location section on Instagram, the member tagged a spot located in the United Kingdom, matching the student’s pledge name given by SAM. The caption reads: “They call me Rikki-Tikki-Tavi, cause the Mongoose always gets the snake #iykyk [if you know, you know].” The post has since been deleted.
“Rikki-Tikki-Tavi” is the story of a mongoose, named Rikki-Tikki-Tavi, taken in by a family who just moved to a new house. Two snakes had been occupying the house and decided to kill the family to protect their own. The mongoose becomes aware of the snake’s plan, and when the snakes go to sleep, he decides to attack by biting the back of one snake’s neck. According to enotes.com, “The commotion summons the family’s father who brings a shotgun and blows Nag [the male snake] to pieces.”
Division E, Article II of the SAM Bylaws and Constitution, “Anti-Hazing,” obtained by visiting GetInvolvedHU, states that “Hazing of candidates by the Candidate Educator or by fratres at large shall be forbidden.”
“We here at Sigma Alpha Mu, place the utmost importance on the safety and comfortability of our guests, and actively try uphold, and improve, our reputation to reflect these values. Thank you for your time, The Brothers of Sigma Alpha Mu,” the Delta Alpha chapter said in a statement to The Chronicle on Thursday, Oct. 17.
Under the University’s Office of Community Standards website, the “Rules and Regulations of Hofstra University Regarding Hazing” section states, “Hazing is a violation of the Penal Law and other laws of the state of New York as well as the general regulations of the University. Accordingly, the University hereby reaffirms its policy that it will not condone hazing of any kind. To this end, any student, faculty member, staff member, visitor, licensee, or invitee who engages in hazing may be removed from the campus and, where appropriate, shall be subject to suspension, expulsion, or other disciplinary action.”
“Sigma Alpha Mu Fraternity’s International Headquarters is aware that the Delta Alpha Chapter at Hofstra has been placed on interim suspension following concern about recruitment and new member education that was reported to the institution,” Huston said in a statement to The Chronicle on Friday, Oct. 18. “The university administration denied our request to collaborate on the investigation and has not shared any details about the initial allegation. We will continue to investigate the chapter’s conduct.”
The status of the Delta Alpha chapter of SAM is yet to be determined based on the outcome of an ongoing investigation.
The fraternity used Instagram to advertise their university-approved rush calendar, as pictured above. Personal information for a member who oversaw recruitment has been redacted from the post.
