Keep your chapter safe and sound

Review risk management policies – The beginning of the school year is a good time to review all risk management policies so that your chapter is prepared when planning upcoming activities and events. Be sure to review these policies with members at a chapter meeting early in the semester.  Select a member to serve as a risk management chair and have them work with a risk management mentor on the AVC.  Risk management policies can be found on our website.

Plan a risk management educational program this academic year and your chapter can receive five percent off of their insurance bill. Last year, only 40 SigEp chapters took advantage of this discount opportunity.  Let’s increase participation this year!  Have 90 percent of your members participate in a program, facilitated by a qualified presenter, and your chapter can receive this discount.  Simply submit an attendance sheet signed by the facilitator plus a short summary of the topics covered to Director of Risk Management Kathy Johnston.  Educated members make much better choices!

Is your chapter ordering T-shirts this fall? Be sure you work with licensed vendors – SigEp is an owner of various trademarks, which include our Greek letters, name, and other insignia.   In order to claim exclusive rights to these marks, we are legally obligated to control their use, not only when we are opposed to the products and designs, but also to assure the products and designs are of high quality and truly reflective of our values. This obligation is fulfilled through our licensing program.

SigEp’s partner in this effort is a company called Affinity Consultants. SigEp does not approve any products that attempt to glorify alcohol, hazing, racism, sexism, or any other image or design that is offensive or hurtful to others.

Please understand the importance of using licensed vendors for SigEp products. A complete list of these vendors is available to you at www.greeklicensing.com and on our website.  If you’d like to nominate a vendor to become licensed, please e-mail the company’s contact information to info@affinity-consultants.com.

Call 24/7 if there is a fire, death or serious injury involving a member or guest.

Store this number in your cell phone and post it at the chapter house.

HAZING CASE STUDY
In 2009 one of our California chapters held a Burning Heart Ceremony in the desert.  New members were blindfolded and driven to the undisclosed location and then placed around a large bonfire.  There was a large group of undergraduate members and alumni present at the ceremony. As their blindfolds were removed, a member put some gasoline on the bonfire to intensify the flames.  Some of the gasoline splashed on to one of the new members and he suffered significant burns on his arms, legs and chest. The new member was taken to the hospital for medical treatment and he ultimately ended up withdrawing from school. A report was not filed by the victim until he went to the university four months later.  *The chapter did not report the incident to the national Fraternity. The university immediately suspended the chapter.  After a full investigation into the activities that led up to the ceremony as well as what transpired at the bonfire, the chapter's recognition was withdrawn by the university and their charter revoked.  The Fraternity ended up in costly litigation as a result of this incident and lost an important chapter.

SigEp has a zero tolerance hazing policy.  Do not include any activities that can be considered as hazing in your member development program.  Hazing is defined in our Statement on Chapter & Individual Responsibility**.  Respect of self and others is one of SigEp’s most important values.

*TIMELY REPORTING – the chapter and alumni volunteers made a big mistake by not reporting this incident in a timely manner. Always report an incident involving injury within 24 hours to the national Fraternity so that assistance and support can be provided to the chapter.

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