Phi Sig brothers to stay in house until end of year

The fraternity had been told to vacate the house after its charter was suspended Monday. and Maureen Tkacik A little more than 24 hours after being told they were being evicted from their house effective immediately, a last-minute University reprieve gave the brothers of Phi Sigma Kappa permission to live in the house for the rest of the semester. On Monday, the fraternity's charter was suspended by their Indianapolis-based national fraternity, leading the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs to tell the brothers to vacate the house by yesterday morning. Yesterday afternoon, however, the Office of the Vice Provost for University Life -- which oversees most non-academic aspects of student life -- accepted the brothers' appeal of the decision, allowing them to stay in the house until the end of the semester. The decision came after OFSA representatives refused to let the brothers sleep in the house another night and denied the brothers' requests for permission to stay through the weekend, according to former Phi Sig president Jon Brodsky, a College sophomore. After meeting with OFSA officials Monday, three of the brothers met with Vice Provost for University Life Valarie Swain-Cade McCoullum that afternoon, requesting to have until the weekend to move their belongings into new housing in High Rise East and Graduate Tower B because of upcoming exams and religious holidays, McCoullum said. "They took full responsibility for their national's decision, and they wanted the opportunity to make a responsible, orderly transition," she explained. McCoullum -- who again met with some of the brothers yesterday afternoon -- accepted a subsequent proposal from Phi Sig brother Jeff Kozloff asking if the brothers could continue to live in the house as if it were a dormitory for the rest of the semester. McCoullum agreed and asked the University for the extension. Although McCoullum said the Office of the President approved the decision, she refused to say whether University President Judith Rodin personally did so. The former members of Phi Sig's Mu chapter -- now "alumni" brothers of the national organization -- will live in the house for the rest of the semester, and the seniors will be able to live there until graduation with rules stricter than those in the high rises. The most notable rule is that the brothers -- not the University -- will accept responsibility for any damage to the Penn-owned house, which is no longer insured by the national fraternity. McCoullum added that the students told her they would abide by all of the University's codes of conduct. They are prohibited from having alcohol in the house, playing music "audible outside of the house," and climbing on the roof. In addition, each ex-brother is allowed no more than two guests at a time inside the house. As part of the deal, OFSA representatives will now "visit" the house to make sure brothers do not violate the agreement, replacing the previous system of visits by "monitors" from the fraternity's national organization. "They were very thoughtful in their proposals," McCoullum said of the former fraternity members. "We were delighted we were able to get [the extension] for them." Today, OFSA plans to videotape the current condition of the house so that any further damage can be accurately archived. Last night, McCoullum said that to the best of her knowledge, the Phi Sig brothers had fully complied with the terms of the agreement. But several students said they were invited to the Phi Sig basement Monday night, after the brothers had been evicted but before the decision was overturned, to say farewell to the house. "We had brothers and friends of the house over [Monday night] to say goodbye to the house" Brodsky said, maintaining that his house did not throw a "party." As of last night, brothers were in the process of cleaning up the basement, repainting the walls -- which had been scrawled with song lyrics and a lone "Fuck OFSA" -- and rolling out an empty keg of beer. "People were throwing kegs at the walls and punching the tiles in the ceilings," said one student who attended the gathering. But another student said no additional damage was done to the house while he was at the party. "People were joking about trashing the house and thinking of things that could be funny for their last night there, but nobody did anything like that while I was there," he said, adding that he left the party at about 1 a.m. The student said 50 to 75 people attended the party. As to whether the brothers could be punished for hosting the gathering, McCoullum said such infractions would not be handled by the VPUL but by the Office of Student Conduct and University Police. When the brothers leave the house, it is scheduled to undergo $1.2 million in renovations funded by Phi Sigma Kappa, the national fraternity's Executive Vice President Tom Recker said yesterday. Once the renovations are completed, Recker said, the fraternity plans to "recolonize" on Penn's campus -- sans any of its current suspended members. The former Phi Sig brothers said the fraternity, which was in its 98th year on Penn's campus at the time of the suspension, wants to recolonize in time for its centennial celebration, although many expressed doubt that the fraternity could renovate and gather members before that date.