Delta Chi chapter president Jay Curtis admits his chapter violated its probation and other rules during a Feb. 13 incident but says the decision to suspend the chapter’s Registered Student Organization status for four years is too severe.

Contrary to previous information given to the Daily Egyptian, the Feb. 13 party occurred at a Marion hotel, Curtis said. He was unwilling to discuss the events that led to the sanctions against his chapter.

We weren’t doing anything that the rest of the students and other fraternities weren’t doing, Curtis said. This was way too harsh a penalty.

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In an attempt to appeal the decision made by Student Development, Curtis says he prepared a written argument against the revocation, which the board is expected to receive today.

The Delta Chi fraternity was on probation before the party because of a prior incident involving the use of alcohol by a pledge. The Feb. 13 incident led to the suspension by Student Development.

According to Curtis, a letter from Student Development stated the fraternity’s violations against University and Select 2000 guidelines. Student Development Assistant Director Katie Sermersheim was not available for comment.

Nearly a year ago, SIUC became one of four universities to pilot the Select 2000 program, which requires all fraternity members to maintain higher grades, community service hours and alcohol- and substance-free chapter houses.

However, Richard Kuehl, Delta Chi faculty adviser, said the penalty imposed on Delta Chi is not related to Select 2000. He would not elaborate on the infraction.

This really wasn’t a Select 2000 issue, he said. There were violations against the Interfraternity Council and Delta Chi headquarters rules and regulations.

Nevertheless, Curtis and other fraternity members hope to receive an appellate hearing regarding the current imposition.

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We admit that what we did was wrong, Curtis said. But is a party really enough grounds to lose a chapter for four years?