Protesters gathered outside the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity with signs on Nov. 3, 2021.
Protesters gathered outside of the Delta Kappa Epsilon, or DKE, fraternity house on Nov. 3. to advocate for accountability within the fraternity.
Students stood outside the house for two hours, attracting attention from passersby and police officers.
“Me and my roommate think that frats aren’t held accountable for what they do with their pledges and everything,” second-year agriculture student Gabby Nageotte said. “We just think the school needs to be aware and actually take some responsibility for what they’re doing.”
Nageotte said she heard about the protest through a group chat.
The DKE Fraternity released a statement on allegations toward members of the Michigan State Sigma Kappa chapter of their fraternity. They have placed the MSU chapter under interim suspension.
The statement says information has been shared with the university.
"The alleged misconduct simply has no place in our Fraternity, and is in direct conflict with the values of Delta Kappa Epsilon," DKE executive director Doug Lanpher said in the statement.
Psychology sophomore Samantha Strobel held a sign during the protest that read “hold frats accountable.” Strobel described her concerns with alleged cases of hazing and sexual assault in fraternities.
“I am out here just because my roommate told me about this, and honestly there’s been too many situations just across universities and frats in general that need to be taken account for,” Strobel said.
Nageotte was excited to see a crowd at the protest.
“I think it’s a really proud moment for the school to show that even though we’re united as a school, we don’t stand for the students who are just gonna do bad s---,” Nageotte said.
Prior to the protest, the university was not made aware of any allegations made towards the fraternity.
“If there are any allegations of hazing, we strongly urge those individuals to make a report with our Office of Institutional Equity,” Deputy spokesperson Dan Olsen said. “We take those matters very seriously and we’ll follow up on those allegations.”
The Interfraternity Council did not respond for comment at the time of publication.
Editor's note: This story was edited on Nov. 4 at 11 a.m. to add a statement from Delta Kappa Epsilon Fraternity.
This story was edited on Nov. 4 at 2:37 p.m. to reflect a revision in a statement from Delta Kappa Epsilon Fraternity.
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