To “Current UA Student” – couldn’t agree more! It was like that back when I attended UA and it seems little has changed. The admissions department needs to do a better job of filtering out these neanderthals. They do not belong at a prestigious state university! These idiots do serious damage to UA’s reputation and do little to help us grow out of third tier status in all the rankings. This should be a priority of the new president: set high standards and do not waiver from them…even if it means a smaller class size. If the school’s reputation improves, then more of the right students will want to attend.

The sad part is SAMMY is unrecognized both by the school and nationally at Albany, Oneonta, and Binghamton and i know they do this same “tradition” at all of them. They bring an awful name to the actual fraternities at the schools. Being an alum at a recognized fraternity at a SUNY school who did pledge i understand the necessity of pledging. However, this isn’t pledging… It’s 15th century torture.

these so called innocent victims that some are portraying them to be are the exact same group who trashed a house on Partridge Street about a month ago and got away with it…and a few cars as well….smashed windows of a home where “rival” frat members lived, and smashed windshields of cars within that immediate area…and GOT AWAY WITH IT..SAME GROUP OF KIDS NAMED

“The Albany Police (ARE) on a rampage and they know they have the court system behind them(comma), so they can get away with anything and everything. The Albany Police (ARE) to prove a point and destroy these student’s lives and reputations for what? To fill a quota?”

No such thing as a police quota. And they should have taken their reputations into account before they beat the piss out of their pledges. Idiots.

@GrammerPoPo

It’s amazing how many people have totally missed that point only to further reiterate how vapid the local populace is.

To grammerpopo….. Don’t know when you get your information from but there are police quotas. And if you read the articles, not one pledge said he was there involuntarily nor was he hurt. Statements like yours are true fabrications. Whereare you there to back up your statement? Also shows your maturity correcting blogs for grammar errors. Have fun with this one.

The International Offices of Sigma Alpha Mu Fraternity posted a press release on their website at: http://sam.org/press-release-regarding-hazing-arrests-at-suny-albany

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Leland D. Manders
Title: Executive Director
Sigma Alpha Mu Fraternity

November 15, 2012

INTERNATIONAL FRATERNITY STATEMENT REGARDING HAZING ARRESTS AT SUNY-ALBANY

As reported in local Albany, NY media outlets, several members of a group falsely representing themselves as a chapter of Sigma Alpha Mu Fraternity were arrested for alleged hazing activities in the ea
rly morning hours of November 9, 2012. Most of these men were apparently students at State University of New York, Albany (aka University of Albany and/or SUNY Albany).

The men involved were not (and never have been) members of Sigma Alpha Mu Fraternity.

More than eight years ago, in early 2004, Sigma Alpha Mu suspended its charter at this university and ordered the immediate cessation of all chapter activities. SUNY Albany also withdrew recognition of this group at that time. Since then, Sigma Alpha Mu Fraternity has had no relationship with the rogue group, or with any of its members.

Several attempts have been made to identify the members of this rogue group in an effort to enforce our organization’s legal rights and to get this group to disband. University officials have heretofore been unwilling or unable to provide names or addresses of the members due to privacy laws. We are unaware of any university disciplinary action(s) taken against any of the members of this group, that may have come as a result of violations of the university’s Code of Student Conduct.

Sigma Alpha Mu Fraternity strictly prohibits hazing of any kind as part of its comprehensive Risk Management Policy, which has been in force for several decades.

The actions that are alleged in the November 9, 2012 hazing incident are reprehensible, and Sigma Alpha Mu Fraternity has never condoned such activities.

If SUNYA and the APD had started cracking down on clowns like these years ago we wouldn’t be having problems like this today. Albany has a crime rate significantly higher than NYC’s in large part because of clowns like this and because there are too many drunken morons wandering around in the middle of the night, acting as sitting ducks for any group of 2 or more kids who want some extra cash.

I saw there were more arrests last night of SUNYA students holding a loud party with underage drinkers. WHAT A SCHOOL OF MORONS!!! The citizens of Albany will arrest every damn student multiple times if that’s what it takes to put an end to this behavior. If a student doesn’t like it they are free to transfer somewhere else.

Also, the pictures of these kids don’t look like they were victims of police brutality. There are no visible REAL bruises or cuts. Do a search for a Rodney King image, now that’s what REAL police brutality looks like. Sounds to me like this bunch of clowns is a bunch of whiny wimpy momma’s boy punks. “Wah, Wah, I want my MAMA!!!”

I graduated UAlbany in 1990 and was a member of Sigma Lambda Sigma (SLS). SLS was a local fraternity founded at the NYS College for Teachers in 1937. Our fraternity lasted until 1968, and was re-founded in 1986. It lasted again for 18 years, during a time when one national fraternity chapter after another was booted off campus for one incident or another of hazing or other misconduct. We weren’t angels, but we didn’t torture pledges. Although our fraternity no longer exists, we still have an active Alumni Association and get together multiple times each year, despite the fact that some of us are pushing 50. About 4 years ago, several of us attempted to work with the University to create a third incarnation of our fraternity, but UAlbany was completely uninterested and made us feel unwelcome. The current University policies refuse even to consider the recognition of a local fraternity, despite the fact that SLS has a 75 year history at Albany and nowhere else.

My point is that fraternities and sororities can be positive forces if encouraged and regulated with proper oversight. As long as the University attempts to do a quick fix on its “party school” reputation by simply coming down on Greek groups instead of attacking the root of the problem by seriously re-examining its admission criteria, incidents like these will continue. I now teach high school in a high-achieving district. I can tell you that our top students do not even consider UAlbany. Trying its best to eliminate Greek life and forcing those who are interested into underground, unregulated groups one step above street gangs is not going to solve the problem.

@slsangus

You are correct in that UA needs to increase its acceptance standards, you are incorrect in assuming that UA needs greek life. This is a state school, it’s meant for affordable education. I walk around campus seeing young kids being yelled at while lined up in freezing cold weather, wearing matching t-shirts and sweat pants trying to pledge for one frat or another. Some times there are multiple frats doing these things all at once making the podium resemble a military practice. And for what? Those are the *legal* frats and that’s what they’re showing as their *public* image.

The illegal frats are illegal for a reason, because of the nonsense mentioned in the above article. I’ve seen photo and physical evidence of some of the brutality involved in these organizations. This isn’t a cheeky game played by a bunch of bright young people. This is immense mental and physical abuse, and for what? Most of these greeks are purely social. I’ve heard freshman and sophomores debate about which one throws the best parties and has the most/hottest women. Obviously a key part of their psychology degree…

Point being, we do not need frats. They don’t serve any purpose that can’t be obtained by an open enrollment group like the plethora we have at the school.

You want camaraderie through fire? Join the army. But stay the hell away from my education.

slsangus – I actually have fond memories of SLS from back in the day: Down-to-earth, normal guys who treated each other and their friends with respect. Can’t say the same for some of the other “popular” large fraternities out there. In fact, most of the smaller fraternities –and there were a bunch of them at one time –were pretty much a lot like SLS. It was the big ones that were trouble; SAM, SAE, TEP, TKE, Pi Kapa Phi, SXE to name a few. Those were the guys fighting. Those were the guys hazing. Those were the guys making a bad name for the rest. It’s too bad that I see many of the smaller ones like SLS are gone now, because they did epitomize the definition of brotherhood.

Current UA Student – How are fraternities tarnishing YOUR education? Look, the best thing about going to a college like UAlbany is that you can literally do ANYTHING. The university’s rep is solid enough that if you’re in the right program and you study, you’re going to go far in life. And if you’re not? Well, maybe you may end up in the police blotter like these guys. Still, the college is big enough and has a broad enough admission policy that it takes a large freshman class and allows THEM to figure out how they’re going to develop. Some realize early on how great of an education they can get there and how competitive some of the programs are. Others don’t, embrace the social aspects of a large university and end up on the outside looking in. Some choose a blend.

Now here’s the thing: You don’t like fraternities and you’re well within your rights. But the university literally cannot tell them they can’t exist. It’s a violation of free speech at a PUBLIC university and national Greek organizations would literally hang the entire SUNY system out to dry if they did. Now with that door firmly wedged open, realize that there will always be Greek life on campus. Always. Despite the university’s surreptitious attempts at ripping up fraternity recognition, its roots are too deep and engrained. As we see with SAM, any large group that has alumni support is going to continue existing even if the university does kick them to the curb.

Hopefully now, the university has learned that it’s better to keep them at arms length and have leverage –to promote those groups who best represent the university’s ideals –than to continue this fruitless effort at throwing them all downtown and letting the law work it out.

By the way, why doesn’t the ASP ever update it’s website? I was actually interested in reading what the UAlbany students wrote about this case but was greeted by articles from nearly a year ago when I logged onto the site. Could someone at least post it here or on your facebook page?

Hi Phil,
My name is Lauren Mineau and I am the news editor for the ASP. I tried emailing you on the address you gave here but I recieved an error message. I just wanted to let you know that we are currently working on a brand new website as we speak. It should be up and running smoothly in the next few weeks, for now we use the TU blog, our facebook and twitter for updates.

Believe none of what you hear and half of what you see. As I am reading this I can only laugh. We were branded the name “sammy”, we did not give ourselves that title. Initially the police said we were part of AEPHI – a local sorority…there was graffiti from passed fraternities and sororities on the walls dating back 15 years (sammy being one of them) and that is the one they picked. The police have since changed their story multiple times. When they came with a warrant, there was no hose, no paddles, no water, no puddles, only shambles of what was left of the house. There was no hazing. There is no fraternity. Police do not have 1 shred of evidence to support any of their claims, yet we are portrayed as monsters in the news. We threw one too many parties and police shut us down, plain and simple. They did it in a disgusting and terrible way, they lied, they ruined lives, but they succeeded in their quest. A complete and absolute lie from start to finish has branded us as terrible people, but whether truth nor fiction…once it’s in the news the truth doesn’t really matter anymore does it. You claim to be educated, you claim to be proud graduates of SUNY… Then ask yourself how does this make sense? how does an entire flooded basement become completely dry over night? How come nobody was wet? How do these kids that were paddled have no bruising? How can people scream mercy if their faces were in water? If cops heard people screaming mercy why didn’t the react sooner? How is a first semester freshman (one of the kids arrested) already in a fraternity and seen by police hazing? How come when the cops brought a warrant to the house they found no evidence of hazing or a fraternity? This entire case is a bureaucratic joke where once again police demonstrated a gross abuse of power and got away with it. With no proof to support their claims they used the media’s insatiable appetite for an entertaining headline to their advantage and published lies that will undoubtedly force the school to take action in an attempt to protect it’s rapidly deteriorating reputation.

Phil,

You cast a broad cloth while invoking the name of some of the organizations above. You inference that:

“It was the big ones that were trouble; SAM, SAE, TEP, TKE, Pi Kapa Phi, SXE to name a few. Those were the guys fighting. Those were the guys hazing. Those were the guys making a bad name for the rest.”

Is borderline slanderous.

Do you have factual evidence that any or all the aformentioned organizations have broken the law or engaged in any unsavory activity?

Perhaps you may not realize that just one of the aforementioned organizations remained and still is recognized at the University at Albany (Tau Kappa Epsilon).

I had been at parties at Sigma Lambda Sigma at 666 State Street, as well as Pi Alpha Nu, in my collegiate days. Local or National- every group had their partes and drank their beer. But to infer that simply because a group was larger or Nationally chartered and thus part of the problem is ignorant.

I was a member of Greek Life at Albany. We enjoyed celebrating ritual and all of the things that separated us from the people who purported to be fraternities- including participating in student government, philanthropy and volunteerism. So, I respectfully contest your assessment of the culture.

Greek Life does offer excellent benefits of membership for those people who take advanatge of the experience and the programming.

When the school ‘punishes’ a group by yaking their recognition, they in turn push them underground. In doing so they lose control of said group. Half of the underground groups at UA were at one time recognized. However, unlike the groups that fought hard to retain their recognition, the independents are not required to maintain grades, meet with adminstration, satisfy requirements such as service and philanthrpy, and/ or carry certificates of insurance.

It would behoove the University to reward those who have been doing more good than not- and offer incentives such as special interest housing ON CAMPUS. Get them out of that wretched ghetto and put some oversight on their on campus presence.

That is just my 2 cents.

I too have noticed that my comments are not updating.

I’m very skeptical of the people supporting this fraternity. You seem to think some of the people here don’t have proof that the article is true or to back up their comments, but then don’t provide any of your own proof. By proof I mean a link to a reliable source, not just your say-so. When you’re making comments about a blog article its perfectly ok to assume the article is true, but it’s not ok to say its not true, complain about people making comments as if the article was true, then not providing links to reliable sources to support your claim. GET REAL.

A few years ago I had a business in that neighborhood and one of the reasons I closed down was because the police and SUNY administration refused to do much of anything about the out of control “party”
atmosphere and general lawlessness, particularly during “warm” weather and on weekends. I used to get drunk High School aged drinkers(not SUNY students) coming in my business all the time bragging about going to a SUNY party and getting alcohol and drugs. I and other business owners used to complain on a regular basis and I guess the student who was murdered on Quail and the Kegs and Eggs riot were the straw that broke the camels back and SUNY and APD finally got smart and started doing something about the mess in that neighborhood. All the activities engaged in by the clowns arrested by APD are illegal, as are underage drinking, charging for liquor at parties with no liquor license, etc, etc. The taxpayer subsidizes about 2/3 of costs of an education at SUNYA and have a perfect rite to demand that the university and its students do everything in their power to make sure certain standards of behavior by its students are maintained.Students who don’t like it are free to transfer to some other school more to their liking, or better yet should just grow up and stop acting like spoiled 12 years olds.

P.S. If these had been beaten up by the police why aren’t there any marks on their faces? Looks to me like the people making those claims are lying.
P.S. 2 Another student was arrested for having an illegal party on Nov 16. What a dill weed. How can a SUNYA student not know that he’s going to get arrested for holding a party like that? A school full of morons. The days of those kinds of parties are over in Albany, unless you want to risk getting arrested. That’s just the way it is. Live with it or transfer to another school.

These guys new exactly what they were getting into, they could have walked anytime. This torture was going on for weeks, beatings, burnings and unbelievable sadistic activities. This is a gang that had an initiation process. One of these guys were shot in the leg and they went back for more. These students are in need of deep seeded psycho and behavioral therapy so they can recognize what they were doing and perpetuating. Hazing is a dangerous life threatening activity and the University needs to take responsibility, these are their students, whether of noty it was a legitimate Frat or not. The kids know what goes on and if properly investigated the truth would come out and the criminal element would be taken care of. Its a complete disgrace that the school reputation is being marred by these individuals. The sadistic culprits thatrepeatedly administered this torture should be punished and any underpinnings of other Frats and Sororities should be investigated also.