Delta Tau Delta has had the highest grades in Fraternity and Sorority Life for 17 terms. But they’re also on probation for a drugging that happened in their house last spring, and that has changed the way their fraternity operates for the better, leaders think.
Now more than ever, the university is holding Fraternity and Sorority Life accountable for their actions, and leaders in DTD want to follow by holding their members accountable for their actions, studies and behavior.
DTD was put on probation in the spring of 2014 because of incidents at a party, according to sophomore internal vice president Austin Thompson.
That spring, the fraternity held a party that let in an unknown individual who was not on the guest list. That individual drugged another member of the party, according to Thompson, causing DTD to make many sudden changes in the past year.
Although the individual who brought the illegal substances to the party was not a member of the fraternity, the fraternity’s nationals and the university believed that the house needed to be put on probation.
DTDa’s alcohol probation now prohibits any drinking at their house, and does not allow for more than five fraternity members to be together while drinking.
DTD had the highest grades in fall 2014, but that’s just a small portion of their winnings. According to FSL statistics, with the exception of spring 2014, DTD has been leading the pack with grades since the fall of 2009.
President Sam Selbie attributes this success to their ability to hold each other accountable, and the drive that the men in their house have. Selbie says that joining DTD was a refreshing surprise.
“I found an environment I wasn’t expecting; that was one of academic support and promoting leadership,” Selbie said.
The fraternity has many different measures that they will put in place with members who are not meeting their overall 2.7 GPA requirement to ensure that the house remains the leader for academics.
The probation hasn’t hurt recruitment of DTD, Lubash said. It has actually brought better quality people into the fraternity.
“I don’t think it hindered our recruiting at all; it actually may have helped,” senior Andrew Lubash said. “When we recruit, we don’t want to recruit people who are just going to join a fraternity in order to party.”
Lubash says that all men interested in joining DTD are made fully aware of their sanctions.
The organization made presentations to their whole chapter (and the general public) about two main topics: alcohol and substance abuse, and sexual assault awareness.
These topics aim to better educate the fraternity as a whole about some of the biggest issues in their communities.
“The presentations that we do have really started to change the culture in our house. We are talking openly about substance abuse and sexual assault. We are looking to become a leader about those issues,” Thompson said.
Selbie said that probation doesn’t have to define a chapter; it can hold them accountable and gives them the opportunity to grow —  Selbie hopes that DTD is the model for that.
“I don’t want to promote the idea that we’re better (than other fraternities) – we’re definitely not,” Selbie said. “All fraternities have their strengths and weaknesses. Our goal is to promote an attitude of growth and  self-improvement.”