LOL, ZOMG, ROFLMAO, et al! We frat-hating, irony-worshipping hipsters here at IvyGate HQ totez hate Greek Life SO much: even more than fun, hazing, and sincerity! OBVI we’re only reporting this def-insignificant news because of our wicked personal vendettaz and insecuritiez.

That said, humor us, because we have a slight inkling that quite a few normal, down-to-earth, fun-loving Cornellians are going to be sad to hear that not one, but two of their frats may soon be shut down. In the wake of our recent announcement of embattled Pike’s closure, we now have exclusive news from a source close to the situation that the Alpha-Kappa chapter of Kappa Sigma (that’s more of a mouthful than dogfood and tabasco!) will be losing its charter this year. According to our tipster,

The national organization has decided to revoke the chapter’s charter after hospitalization incidents during rush week, inappropriate pictures surfaced on Facebook, and a rogue fog machine set of a fire alarm at a pledge party.

This sort of sucks: especially since it’s not ADPhi. Jokes. In all seriousness, the besieged frats at Cornell, for all their foibles, have been on the receiving end of a disproportionate amount of administration crackdown, especially since — as a frat tipster notes — “on occasion, we do good things.”

Ithaca is cold and gloomy; frats are warm and, at their best, booze and camaraderie filled. When they do crazy things, we here at IvyGate write about them; but when they get shut down, we take no joy in Cornell’s loss. Godspeed noble bros; godspeed.

Oh good lord… So, a few months back we brought you the twisted tale of Pi Kappa Alpha at Cornell, whose rush-week boozefests left three freshmen hospitalized and the campus in uproar. Next, Cornell’s ADPhi bros bit the bullet on account of our leaked hazing regimen.

Well, as the great karmic wheel turns, IvyGate has received the exclusive final word, via a high-up on-campus source: Pike will be shut down, permanently. Apparently, the Interfraternity Council is holding out on releasing the news. According to the Cornell Daily Sun,

a public announcement on the fate of Pi Kappa Alpha is expected within the next two weeks.

But behind closed doors, the decision has been made… The hazers’ days are numbered.

And, by way of our own role in all this (also from the Sun):

Allegations of hazing at Cornell have garnered widespread media attention this year. Particularly, popular gossip blog Ivygate has prominently featured reports of the allegations, with stories being picked up by popular blogs such as Gawker and The Huffington Post.

We wash our hands of all this (after all, to us, ritual-abuse nonsense is a riot) and apparently, so does Cornell’s Associate Dean of Students Travis Apgar, who stated that:

while the Alpha Delta Phi allegations were first publically disclosed by Ivygate, they were simultaneously reported to the OFSA through hazing.cornell.edu. The Ivygate stories were not the basis of the investigation nor were they consulted as part of it. [IFC President Allen] Miller said that Ivygate was not involved in the investigation, and would not comment on the veracity of its reports.

Let’s just hope this isn’t unintentional paralipsis. As for our favorite quote? From the Associate Dean himself:

Media outlets such as Ivygate sensationalize for the reader.

Whoa, Dean Apgar, are you looking to start something? We’ll tread carefully: we know you’ve got dog-food, tabasco, dodgeballs, naked-laps, and alcohol poisoning at your disposal…

It’s been a busy month for our favorite “literary fraternity” ADPhi. First, they got busted for some slovenly hazing. Then, they blatantly lied about it. Next, everyone from Gawker to HuffPost was reposting the story. Well, a week or so ago the Cornell administration got involved, and the news is dire: Reports out of Cornell tell us that ADPhi has been placed on complete social probation. If found participating in fraternity sponsored social events, the bros run the risk of losing their university recognition and possibly disbarment.

Well, you’ve got to give them credit for bravery. According to an anonymous tipster, ADPhi is still having Hell Week, in secret, for their new pledges this week. No less than three of the pledges have been overheard lamenting. Thin ice, guys… thin ice.

A couple of weeks ago we brought you the exclusive and twisted tale of Cornell “literary fraternity” ADPhi’s hazing travails: nudity, dogfood, ritual abuse, etc. Well, in the days that followed, some considerable crap went down: the story went viral, you feisty commenters went wild (it was Spring Break, after all), and new info and multimedia started streaming in from all sides. We’ve held off on updating, letting the story simmer, but now–with pics and fun galore–we can’t restrain ourselves any longer. Here’s what we’ve heard from our tipsters:

• ADPhi’s pledges were forced to swallow the goldfish that they were asked to bring in the email.
• A text message from one of the pledges: ”Sorry, I can’t make dinner tonight, I’m going to get hazed really hard.”
• The Cornell administration is currently involved, investigating the hazing allegations. (One of our sources is allegedly being “threatened” by ADPhi bros.)
• ADPhi maintains an incredibly sketchy “Goat House” (pictured above), a door and windowless tomb accessible only via tunnel, where the brothers perform their rituals. It’s rumored that a few years back an unsuspecting pledge received third degree burns within its shadowy walls.

Oh, but there’s a lot more. Head on past the jump for more exclusive pics, including funtimes inside the frat and an unfortunate use of a second-floor window.

Read the rest of this entry »

Our Cornell frat hazing story has gotten the Internet all in a tizzy; it’s currently lighting up the front page at Huffington Post and enflaming the feisty Gawker-crowd (also, these nerds). Just to add to the fun/fuel the fire, look what we just stumbled on, right on the front-page of the Cornell ADPhi chapter website:

OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Zero Tolerance for Hazing at Alpha Delta Phi

Several Cornell websites help visitors to learn about allegations of hazing at Cornell, report alleged hazing incidents, explore non-hazing group-building activities, and find out what they can do to prevent hazing. Take a look at: Hazing at Cornell and services for victims of hazing.

The best part? The links lead nowhere.

Yes; frats haze, no big deal. We think only an idiot would subject oneself to it, but to each his own.

But lying and hypocrisy? Didn’t know that was a brotherhood kind of thing… Ritual abuse, however “voluntary,” seems a little bit like Monica Lewinsky; you only get in trouble when you start fibbing about it.

The bros of “literary fraternity” Alpha Delta Phi (yeah, really…) may not be living up to their noble, stated aims. IvyGate has received an exclusive copy of an email sent to this year’s ADPhi pledges, detailing their hazing lineup. We’ve also gotten our hands on an anonymous report of the night’s disgusting, dehumanizing festivities.

The young pledges were:

• Forced to chug a slurry of dogfood, tabasco sauce, and sour cream;
• Run relay races, while blackout drunk, through the great halls of the ADPhi manor–filled with flour, beer, and water–while being pelted with dodgeballs;
• Jog naked laps outside the house in the below-freezing Ithaca winter;
• Stand outside in a “lineup” for two hours, with only a shirt, jacket, tie and slacks.

Brotherhood and ritual abuse FTW!

ADPhi bros: we hope you successfully vented all of your testosterone/closeted-homoeroticism/self-esteem-issues/meathead aggression on these defenseless freshmen. We don’t want to see exploding sweatpants in the back-row at lecture.

Defenseless freshmen: Remember when Pike–that other frat at your college–poisoned those other defenseless freshmen? Maybe a warning sign…? The experience sure doesn’t sound like, in the words of the ADPhi website, a

process [that] enhances individual self-respect as well as fostering responsibile concern for others within the chapter

I bet hypocrisy tastes even better mixed with dog-food and sour-cream.

Full ADPhi email (fun fact: from a kid I went to high school with!) after the jump:

Read the rest of this entry »

Tipsters, we love you. Multiple sources–some connected to members of the Cornell Interfraternity Council–have confirmed that the fraternity responsible for three alcohol-poisoned freshmen and a police/administration crackdown is Pi Kappa Alpha, known on campus as Pike. The frat, founded in 1868–and which boasts such superstar alumni as Karl Rove, Charlie Crist, Tim McGraw, and not one, but two fried chicken magnates (KFC and Chick-Fil-A founders)–has a beautifully ironic mission statement:

Pi Kappa Alpha is dedicated to developing men of integrity, intellect, and high moral character and to fostering a truly lifelong fraternal experience.

“Truly fraternal” in the most liver-damaging, stomach-pumping sense, we assume. I wonder what these freshmen’s parents think… Oh, Pike has a site for that: A Parent’s Guide to Pi Kappa Alpha.

Pi Kappa Alpha recognizes the danger hazing poses for individuals and the detrimental effect hazing inherently has on organizations. Undergraduate delegates to numerous International Conventions have repeatedly adopted legislation denouncing hazing.

How reassuring. All that legislation must make them a feel a lot better about seeing their kid on an IV drip.

Despite their “integrity, intellect, and high moral character,” these bros are in a world of trouble. Sources at Cornell tell us that Pike won’t be allowed a pledge class this year, will remain on total social probation, and could be completely disbanded if all the brothers move out.

As ambivalent as we are about Greek life, IvyGate’s coverage of the dark side of Rush will lovingly continue. Frat-boys and sorority-girls: thanks for all the material. Tipsters: a thousand thanks, and looking forward to hearing more.

Turns out Greek Life rush isn’t all, fun, games and “pretty heels.” In the wee hours of the morning, IvyGate was forwarded an explosive email, sent by Eric Blair of the Cornell Interfraternity Council to all “potential fraternity members.” The Greek czar tells a twisted tale:

I am writing to provide you all with an update of events that occurred last night that resulted in a fraternity having their university recognition temporarily suspended. The suspension is in response to a recruitment event at the fraternity house that resulted in the hospitalization of three students due to alcohol poisoning.

Brotherhood, community, philanthropy, and life-threatening intoxication. Fun. But surprising? Who would have thought that a biyearly institution which corrals eager, tiny freshmen–most of whom never drank in high school, and have the alcohol tolerance of fieldmice–and subjects them to intense drinking bouts could have ill effects? And it’s not even pledge week yet. Irony:

The health and wellness of all individuals is a priority of the Greek system at all times.

Yeah, obviously. The Greek system is definitely up there with Community Health Educators and the Cornell Christian Fellowship. Nevertheless, the buzzkilling po-po and Cornell administration are coming down hard on these bros:

The Ithaca Police Department responded to the event as well and are currently investigating along with Cornell University Police.  This incident is being taken very seriously and will likely have repercussions that effect the entire system.  At this time the fraternity has been instructed to desist from all activities including recruitment.

Boom goes the dynamite. As of now, the identity of the tragic shuttered frat remains a mystery–all-knowing commenters and tipsters, make us wise.

And freshmen, be careful out there. PSA: you don’t have to subject yourself to all-male alcoholic bro-hazing and three years of being someone’s bitch in order to make friends at college. The allure of the Greek system is understandable; it often does a world of good. But when young’uns are being wheeled into the ICU, young women are mercilessly objectifying each other, and frats are coming under the hard fist of the law, it might be a good time to realign priorities.

Read the full Cornell Interfraternity Council email after the jump.

Read the rest of this entry »