No arrests were made, no drinking citations were issued, and other than a noise violation issued by the Wilmington Police Department no evidence was collected to suggest that UNC Wilmington Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity members had committed any crime at an off-campus party in winter of last year.

However, due to an anonymous neighbor’s complaint to the university, the Dean of Student’s Office investigated charges related to serving alcohol to minors and hazing. The fraternity was thrown off campus and banned from their national charter for a suspension of two years and their president, Ian Gove, was not happy about it.

A hearing is held

“It was unfortunate how much of an overreach it was by the [Dean of Student’s] office,” Gove said. “And, honestly, I would ask students to question the Dean of Student’s office and the judgments they make and it appears that legislators agreed strongly with our case.”

The organization was officially dismissed from their charter and campus on Feb. 8, 2013, according to UNCW Dean of Students Michael Walker. They are not allowed to recruit or formally organize on-campus until May 2015.

Walker was directly involved in suspending SAE from campus and said the main reason for disciplinary hearings, including the SAE case, is for the protection and safety of students.     

“The university, as a risk-manager, wants to keep students safe,” Walker said. “Fraternities want to, and I can say this a fraternity-man, they want to have fun. And while that’s not the only thing they want to do— it’s one of the things they want to do.”

Walker is an alumnus of Tau Kappa Epsilon, a fraternity suspended from campus for hazing charges in May. TKE’s suspension is in effect until May 2014. However, while SAE was brought up on charges of hazing and drinking, one of the charges didn’t stick.

“When the neighbor initially provided information, it referred to hazing-type behavior and when the police officer pulled into the property, he observed and reported seeing at least one student doing push-ups,” Walker said. “Which, while push-ups in fraternities don’t always mean there’s hazing, the reasonable person might presume that, that’s possible.”

However, it was the drinking charges that got the fraternity kicked off campus and made Gove write a letter to the general assembly asking for student representation at disciplinary hearings.

UNCW and SAE alumnus Rep. John Bell responded to his letter with a plea later heard by the NC House, Senate and Gov. Pat McCrory.

A bill is passed

Once the letter was sent, Gove and other members of SAE approached Bell to seek legislative action on what they said was a biased hearing held by the university.  

“When you look at the wording of the bill—it allows a student or a student organization to have representation or a student advocate with them,” Bell said. “It can mean a lawyer, a mom, a dad, their academic advisor, or it could be an alumni organization advisor—it just allows those students who are 18, 19, 20, 21-years-old to not have to stand there by themselves.”

The Students and Administration Equality Act, a section of House Bill 74 and also known as the SEA Act, was then sponsored by Bell and passed the NC House with a stipulation—students could seek representation of any kind at disciplinary hearings that did not include a student-run hearing system.

“It passed the floor, 112-1, with very little debate,” Bell said. “Everyone felt like it was a good idea, on both sides of the aisle.”

HB 74 then passed in the senate and Gov. Pat McCrory signed it into law Aug. 23.

Administration comes out against the law

However, while the law is receiving praise from students and government officials, UNCW’s administration and UNC System President Thomas Ross both issued statements coming out against the law.

“The section of HB 74 that addresses student hearings was initially a separate bill sponsored by several legislators from various parts of the state,” according to a statement issued through Chancellor Miller’s office by university relations executive director, Janine Iamunno. “The university opposed that bill due to its potential to make those hearings more adversarial, lengthy, and costly. The final wording recognizes that a process that is run by students could avoid that negative outcome and maintain the current educational value of such proceedings.”

Ross expressed similar sentiments in a memo issued to the university community where he cites the bill as having, “the potential to fundamentally alter processes intended to help students make better decisions.”

While the university may be upset with the outcome of the bill, Dean Walker insists they will fully comply with the new law.

“We’ll try and balance the new legislation with the primary motivation to educate our students and help them be accountable for their decisions, predict consequences and make good choices,” Walker said. “That’s our goal here.”