Content Warning: This article contains censored language, including slurs, that some readers may find offensive. Discretion is advised.

By THE EDITORIAL BOARD

Sigma Chi, one of the largest North American fraternities, established its Alpha Zeta Chapter at Beloit College in 1882. Since then, it has amassed a list of controversies stretching back through its history on campus. Currently, the relationship between Sigma Chi and the campus at large feels uncertain.

Several current students question what a modern Sigma Chi stands for. “I just wonder, ‘What do they do?’” questions Elliot Ave-Lallemant’27. Kevin Asare’25 echoes the sentiment; “I think they would matter more if they brought more people together — they don’t do much of that.” Dick McGregory’27 adds, “As of right now, I don’t really know what they’re doing.”

Some students have a positive view of the members of the fraternity. “Most of my interactions with people from Sigma Chi have been pleasant,” says Charlie Martin’26, a foreign exchange student experiencing his first year at Beloit. Tyrel Spivey’25, current president of Sigma Chi, also holds a strong view of his fraternity, saying “I believe that our culture is centered around friendship, justice and learning. We hold these values very high in everything that we do.” “I saw they did a car wash recently,” says Fiona Hughes’26. 

But many student perceptions lean negatively; “I’ve heard mainly negative comments about them,” says Efrem Lilly’27, “My good friend just said, ‘They hate gay people.’” The fraternity’s reputation is “currently bad,” Asare says. 

“Definitely going down after the incident,” Lallemant remarks, while Kwansi Asante’26 adds, “Even freshmen who were not here last year know what happened.” Svea Jones’25 summed it up; “Right now, it’s a big ol’ bruise on campus.” 

In this article, we investigate the culture of Sigma Chi, its impact on campus, and what its future may look like. We will begin with recent events, establish a cyclical history of relapse, and  unpack the mechanisms that perpetuate its excesses.

On April 29, 2024, a video surfaced originating from a private Snapchat story featuring multiple Sigma Chi brothers hurling homophobic epithets towards the LGBTQ community. The video, recorded on stage at C-Haus during a Sig-hosted DJ night, quickly spread throughout the student body. One Sigma Chi brother could be heard shouting, “I hate gays. I hate them.” The then-president of Sigma Chi said, “I hate Beloit College gay f*gs.” The then-newly elected president of the fraternity was alleged to have said “I want to r*pe a f*cking d*ke,” and though Sigma Chi later stated that he said “I want to rip a f*cking cart,” the damage was done. 

The evening after the video surfaced, leaders from student organizations across campus, including the Round Table, were invited to Phi Kappa Psi’s chapter room to discuss what actions ought to be taken to ensure that any organization or individual would not repeat the sentiments expressed in the video on campus. The message was clear: this could not be swept under the rug. SAGA (Sexuality and Gender Alliance), BSU (Black Students United), TEAA (Trans Experience Advocacy Association), Theta Pi Gamma, Kappa Delta, Tau Kappa Epsilon, Phi Psi, and C-Haus were among those who released public statements condemning the rhetoric displayed in the video. Several of the statements called for the dismantling of Sigma Chi. 

On May 2, the fraternity issued a formal apology, stating that the members responsible for the remarks had been expelled from the fraternity and that the rhetoric did not represent the organization’s values. 

But the truth is, this was not an isolated incident. It is part of a longstanding cycle, decades in the making, of repeated scandals, tepid reforms, and eventual relapses. To believe otherwise is to ignore history. For years, Sigma Chi has been plagued by accusations of sexism, homophobia, and discrimination toward marginalized groups. Notably, this behavior cannot be fully detached from a broader national fraternity culture that “reinforces traditional masculine roles and values [and] downplay[s] negative aspects of masculinity, and perpetuat[es] a masculine/feminine binary” and “[has] served as a haven for young men that support the development of hegemonic masculinity and hypermasculinity, while preventing those same students from being exposed to opposing personality traits and challenges to their own idea of masculinity,” according to scholarly work on the matter. Still, it is vital to examine instances specific to Sigma Chi to establish a pattern of behavior before investigating why these behaviors persist despite repeated efforts to reform the fraternity.

In interviews conducted by the Round Table, including with past members, Sigma Chi’s presence on campus was frequently described as rowdy, drunken, and “jock”-like. Surely this is true of many fraternities across the country, but this demeanor isn’t the only explanation for Sigma Chi’s poor reputation.

In the 50s, Dr. Jim Patterson’57 resigned from Sigma Chi after discovering that the national charter excluded Black individuals. This was, Patterson says, “true for most fraternities and sororities in those days.” However, Sigma Chi continuously appeared to resist adapting to the changing times. 

One student from the class of 2017 remembers a hate crime incident on campus, where someone “distribut[ed] Nazi pamphlets.” In response to this, feeling that the administrative response was insufficient, this student invited Jackson Katz, the creator of the gender violence prevention and education program ‘Mentors in Violence Prevention,’ to speak on the intersection of racism, toxic masculinity, and bystander intervention. The only way this student remembers getting Sigma Chi members to attend was by asking the athletic department to make it mandatory for all male athletes to show up. Dr. Calago Hipps’15, former social chair of Sigma Chi, recalls the first white president following a black president during his time; “[He] told me one night, drunk, that Black police officers kill more Black people. And that was the kind of conversation I had to deal with.”

This insular behavior persisted with toxic masculinity, sexism, and gender violence. David Berkowitz’87, says that his “overwhelming memory of Sigma Chi was a bunch of members with big, numbered flashcards, rating the freshman women as they walked past with their parents.” Jim Patterson recounts how Sigma Chi would throw autumnal parties in the woods to get the freshman women drunk. Sara Kurth’05 shared with the Round Table an experience where, as one of her friends was rushing Sigma Chi, he asked to “borrow” her pet fish. She found out later the fish was fed to a turtle. She connected his coercive behavior to larger themes of toxic masculinity; “he kept telling me, ‘I’ll return it, it’s just for a prank.’ … He took something from me in the name of being my friend. It screamed of toxic masculinity.”

But the most relevant pattern of behavior for the incident last April — that of homophobia — is perhaps the fraternity’s most unremitting tradition. Rae Sugar-Muffin’03, former leader of the campus LGBTQ+ group ‘Alliance,’ reflects on attempts to resolve the tension between her group and Sigma Chi. Together with the fraternity, they planned a week-long collaboration of social events, formal discussions about homophobia, and a joint party at the Sigma Chi house. At their own party, there were no Sigma Chi members in sight, according to Sugar-Muffin.

Morgan Bakewell’16 shared an experience of being called a homophobic slur by Sigma Chi members (in response to which the administration reportedly did little), and how in his senior year he wore a shirt that read “ΣX bros called me a f*ggot” to a Sigma Chi party, resulting in him being forcibly removed from their lawn. One student from the class of 2016 claims he does not remember “a single gay brother, that was out, at least,” which was shocking in comparison to Phi Psi and TKE at the time. 

But why does this behavior of insularity and opposition to marginalized groups continue? While one may argue that it is endemic to all fraternities, it is clear that it can be reformed. For instance, after the 2019 scandal involving a Black Barbie doll hung as if by a noose, it can be argued that the Kappa chapter of TKE has, at least in part, reformed their fraternity’s culture. Additionally, Jim Patterson, a former Sig member, recollects how, after visiting his son at Beloit College, he was surprised by how broad and inclusive Phi Psi was, with “kids from around the world.” Homophobia especially seems to be a frat-culture problem that other fraternities at Beloit College have made active efforts to resolve. TKE, according to Hipps, has had more diversity and students of color. Sigma Chi suffers from systemic issues that, if not unique to itself, are worse in many aspects than other fraternities at Beloit College. 

“We stuck out like a sore thumb because, the athletes on Beloit College’s campus, we come in with stereotypes. Majority of campus doesn’t play sports, right?” Dr. Calago Hipps speaks to how the brothers’ identity as athletes, even before joining the fraternity, set them apart from the rest of the campus. He describes a feeling that athletes, and Sigma Chi members, must “constantly prove” themselves to the rest of campus. With all this, as well as entering a predominantly white institution as a person of color, Hipps felt “respect wasn’t freely given” to him by the campus. 

“We’re more visible because we’re athletes… we’re bigger guys,” Patrick Galloway’16, a former Sigma Chi member who came to Beloit as a football recruit, says. Dr. Charles Westerberg’94, a sociology professor at Beloit College and former Sigma Chi president, echoed this theme by noting the sense of separation the “conventional” individual may feel in Beloit’s broader culture, which “is very nonconformist, independent, and ideologically radical. So, that leads to a kind of alienation when people first come to campus, and they look for others like them.” This search for belonging in a campus one feels excluded from creates a “Sig vs. Beloit” mentality, but is this inevitable? 

The safe space for the “conventional” may have positive effects. “In my own experience,” Westerberg argues, “[being in Sigma Chi] was important for me to eventually embrace larger equality movements — feminism, racial justice — because I was learning about these things while not feeling constantly defensive.” However, these effects can only occur if there is consistent communication between Sigma Chi and the rest of the campus, which has not historically been the case. 

For a group of people who feel at odds with the rest of campus to have that consistent communication, it must be brought about by strong and persistent leadership. Hipps shared that he had a president, a student of color, who “worked hard to mend relationships. We started collaborating, like hosting an art show with Art Haus.” 

Galloway also emphasized the positive impact of strong leadership, saying, “Having a [strong] leadership structure allows people to be positively influenced and have a better mindset. The president my sophomore year was a very strong leader… in the sense that he put on events, he didn’t allow guys to step out of line and set high expectations.”

But leadership is not enough. After the Black president Hipps experienced, Sigma Chi elected another “white bread” leader, comfortable with sharing racist thoughts with his brothers, including with Hipps. “When those [effective] leaders leave, the culture reverts,” Hipps said. “Sigma Chi need[s] to figure out how to make those changes sustainable.”

When asked about the never-ending cycle of scandal to outrage to reform to scandal, Westerberg said, from both the perspective of a student and a faculty member, that this “terrible cycle of learning experiences [keeps repeating itself, whether] it’s fights, videos, or other kinds of gender violence.” It is not that Sigma Chi needs to integrate itself with the rest of campus — Westerberg references how BSFFA (Beloit Science Fiction and  Fantasy Association) and Sigma Chi are probably not going to “hang out together all the time” — but that there needs to be open communication. However, according to Westerberg, Sigma Chi members may feel that “communication” would mean admitting they are wrong and being lectured by people who “really know what’s right.” And a bad reputation breeds isolation, which, while it “feels good for a while… [will] eventually come back to bite you.” 

To Sigma Chi’s credit, current president Tyrel Spivey argues that a “sense of brotherhood” is cultivated so that this isolation can be avoided. Still, he says, “individuals make decisions based on their own merit, regardless of how hard we try.”

Even so, the video that spread in late April of 2024 is not surprising. The feeling of betrayal that accompanied it is understandable. The words of Sigma Chi’s 2023-24 president particularly hurt many students, as the preceding year seemed to be one of active strides on his part to more involve Sigma Chi with the rest of campus. After the leak, according to one Sigma Chi brother, the former president held an emergency meeting and apologized for getting caught on camera, not for saying the words that he did. But this did not come out of nowhere. The cycle was simply repeating itself. 

The defining feature of the video was homophobia, a dormant attitude entrenched in Sigma Chi’s history, but it was not just homophobia that the video expressed. This video expressed a refusal to participate in the Beloit community, and this refusal is the most dangerous element of all. How does this culture perpetuate itself?

A document obtained by the Round Table shows not just homophobia, not just a refusal to participate with the rest of campus, but a sense of hatred and division within Sigma Chi’s own members. According to a member during the 2023-2024 academic year, this document, written over the fall of 2023 and spring of 2024, and referred to as ‘The List’ by Sigma Chi brothers, was a notebook passed around during weekly chapter meetings; brothers wrote anonymously in the book and its contents were then read to the brotherhood by the former president at the end of the meeting. 

When first questioned on ‘The List,’ Spivey stated that Sigma Chi “did not and do not have something titled as ‘The List’.” When prompted with the Round Table’s evidence, Spivey changed his stance, saying that they “have not done any list in our chapter meetings since about fall of 2023.” However, sources confirm that additions were made during spring of 2024 — the same semester as the incident in question – recalling “some of these exact pages being read to the chapter.” Spivey says he cannot confirm the document’s origin as he has  “not seen those pages before,” adding that “if this is from Sigma Chi like your source says, then this is something that we as an organization are actively working to fix and get rid of.”

Not only does ‘The List’ include harmful language about students outside the fraternity, but it also insults and belittles existing brothers. For instance, it includes a two-page-long bulleted list of why a specific brother was a “whipped b*tch” that much of the chapter contributed to, as well as a bulleted list of why a different brother was homosexual. Other additions to ‘The List’ include homophobic, racist, and hateful speech. Some entries include: “[REDACTED]… proceeded to insert his right big toe into [REDACTED]’s gaping *sshole, as he had just finished getting pegged. W gay sex;” “I turn the page because I’m a bi, gay r*tard;” “[REDACTED] and [REDACTED] meet in secret to read Mein Kampf;” “This room smells like little India;” “How’s your fingers tasting, [REDACTED]? Sucking the cum out of your fingernails?;” “[REDACTED]’s fingers look like a d*ke I would misgender and fight;” “[REDACTED] is a pushy touchy queer beer black bear f*g;” “[REDACTED], the f*ggot, smiled while he chain smoked his hand rolled f*gs;” “Will [REDACTED] be THEE White Supremacist? Yes. List over;” “Just wanted to let you know I am the gayest, f*ggy, d*ck-sucking, cum-sipping, *ss-eating f*ggot to ever exist;” “Don’t say the r-word or the f*ggot word;” “Look into [REDACTED]’s eyes and say f*ggot;” “I love getting horny and f*cking tr*nnies;” and the list goes on. An entire Five-Star, 8 ½ x 11” college-ruled notebook was filled with this language. 

These were words written about fellow brothers, fellow friends. How does this culture perpetuate itself? It is not only through self-selection and a sense of isolation but through this. This is not an attempt to rid the membership of feelings of isolation. Every single member of Sigma Chi was, at the time, complicit in this speech; whether they wrote in ‘The List’ or not, they sat in the room and allowed this to happen — they let their peers and friends tear each other down — they let a system of cruelty infiltrate their brotherhood.

What is one to do? Shall one shove this group of people away? Shall the rest of the campus say, as Westerberg puts it, “You are, in fact, that alien you thought you were”? Even now, a ‘Boycott Sig’ movement asks people to forgo attendance at Sig parties and to cut off their Sig friends. 

Multiple statements released by various affinity groups called for the dismantlement of Sigma Chi after the infamous video spread. According to Westerberg, some faculty were discussing the possibility as well. “‘Well, this is it,’” Westerberg recalls them saying, “‘This is a den of iniquity.’” 

But Westerberg told them a story: In 1995, members of similar campus organizations as ‘Alliance,’ the aforementioned LGBTQ+ affinity group, from other colleges came to Beloit. A Sigma Chi member put his speakers in the window, turned the stereo all the way up, and played ‘Heterosexual Man,’ by Odds. Security comes, he barricades the door, he gets reprimanded, etc. But three years later, he came out as gay. 

“We want to establish this culture that is safe for everyone and doesn’t contain these ‘negative elements in society,’” Westerberg says. “To me, that’s the wrong move because a tremendous amount of education happens even from these negative outcomes. From a sociological approach, [removing these ‘negative elements’] always backfires. It drives this deviant behavior further underground and it makes it even more vitriolic and sinister.” 

“[Sigma Chi] offers an opportunity where people can be learning from each other,” Westerberg argues. Hipps agrees. Even in the face of the president spewing hateful, racist language in his face, Hipps says “But we don’t have those conversations [about why that is wrong] if we’re not in the house together.”

“We can’t have people launching homophobic tirades. There should be punishment and demonstrations that that’s not what we stand for,” Westerberg adds. When asked what worked, from the position of a faculty member, as a campus response to Sig’s excesses over the years, Westerberg said that the best response he’s seen is the campus asking Sigma Chi what its goals are, and then asking them to “Put your money where your mouth is,” and pressuring the fraternity to demonstrate what it stands for. 

But this campus is at an impasse. Those who have called for its dismantlement see Sigma Chi’s culture as irreformable and its potential virtues, which Westerberg and Hipps described, as not worth it. “I’m surprised they’re still around, and I would like for them to be reevaluated,” Svea Jones says, a sentiment echoed by SAGA, Phi Psi, and TKE. “This needs to be the final incident that occurs on this campus,” the fraternities said. On the other hand, those who cast its past incidents as the actions of “a few bad apples” ignore the structural issues at the root. Those who want Sigma Chi to reform and communicate must acknowledge that a certain segment of the student body feels unsafe and threatened by the actions of its members, and is thus not interested. 

Hipps says that long-lasting reform will be incredibly difficult without intervention by nationals. But, because the Alpha Zeta chapter of Sigma Chi is so small compared to other, non-liberal-arts frats, they are paid relatively little attention, and judging by the failure of the national organization to reach back out to the Round Table when asked to comment, it is unlikely that national pressure will come anytime soon. 

Sigma Chi must now ask itself what its values are, and if it is able to uphold them. If it cannot uphold the value of community within its membership, it must disband. If it cannot make lasting efforts to communicate with the rest of the campus, it must disband. If it cannot eliminate the sense of isolation it has cultivated, it must disband. 

But it does not have to be this way. It is good to provide a place for a certain type of person to have certain conversations without feeling judged. It is good to offer young men a sense of belonging and to give back to the larger community. It may be worthy for Sigma Chi to interrogate its recruits to ensure they are “a man of good character, a student of fair ability, with ambitious purposes, a congenial disposition, possessed of good morals, having a high sense of honor and a deep sense of personal responsibility,” as its ritual book — a copy obtained by the Round Table — describes in ‘The Jordan Standard,’ but it is simply not enough.

Tyrel Spivey says that to address last April’s incident, DEI and Bias training will be implemented every year for Sigma Chi members, this year led by Assistant Dean Gloria Bradley. This is a good start, but more is needed.

Every action must be accompanied by consistent efforts for communication with the campus at large. Events should be co-hosted with affinity groups. Though Sigma Chi “plan[s] to reach out to different LGBTQ+ related organizations to try and have conversations with them,” this needs to happen immediately, though it may be difficult as trust has been so broken. Speakers that represent Sigma Chi’s values should be invited. It should be insisted upon that members participate in other campus organizations besides athletics. If one of its members acts in a way that jeopardizes Sigma Chi’s ability to communicate with the rest of campus, that must be immediately resolved. A “designated point person,” as Spivey says Sigma Chi is introducing for members of the campus to reach out to in cases like this, is helpful, but this needs to be publicized and managed so the rest of the campus can utilize this resource. Only if all this is consistently demonstrated, and institutions are put in place that will outlast leaders, the rest of the campus may respond positively. The groups Sigma Chi has harmed do not now owe it consideration. But, if it shows that it is better, that it provides something valuable to the rest of the community, and that it cares, those groups may begin to hear the fraternity out. Sigma Chi members may be those “good men who choose to act,” as they proclaim they are. They may put an end to this cycle.

CORRECTION: The original version of this article claimed that multiple members in the video said slurs, but only one member has been confirmed to have said a slur. Additionally, the original version attributed the phrase “Burn ’em. Burn ’em” to the same member who said “I hate gays. I hate them.” This was inaccurate: two different individuals said these phrases and the investigation conducted by Beloit College concluded that “Burn ’em. Burn ’em” was not what was said.

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