EWU SigEp fraternity under investigation by national chapter

CHENEY, Wash. — The Eastern Washington University (EWU) chapter of the Sigma Phi Epsilon (SigEp) is being investigated by the fraternity’s national headquarters over “recent complaints of alleged behaviors that fail to meet the conduct standards and expectations set forth by the national chapter and EWU.”

In a statement sent to KXLY 4, EWU officials say the school is working in partnership with the SigEp national chapter to respond to the complaints.

A member of the SigEp headquarters staff traveled to Cheney Friday to investigate the claims.

“SigEp takes health and safety violations very seriously,” said SigEp CEO Brian Warren, via press release. “We expect all of our students to behave according to both their university’s policies and ours, and we work with our university partners to remove students or chapters that pose a risk to student safety. If an individual member violates one of these policies, they face sanctions including expulsion from our fraternity. When a chapter poses a risk to student safety, we are unwilling to allow that chapter to continue to operate.”

SigEp nationals will make a determination about the appropriate next step, whether it be a full chapter review, or withdrawing the EWU SigEp chapter’s recognition. In the meantime, the chapter will remain on suspended operations.

The statement from EWU says the school supports the SigEp national chapter’s actions. Behavior that is found to violate EWU’s Code of Conduct will be pursued by the university.