Despite rumors that Alpha Chi Omega's annual Big Man On Campus philanthropy event was going to be canceled this year, the event is expected to occur as planned tomorrow evening.
The participating students have signed a pledge not to consume alcohol during the pageant and several members of Alpha Chi Omega national headquarters will be present to supervise the event, said Wharton senior and Interfraternity Council President David Ashkenazi.
Alpha Chi Omega was put on administrative warning last week by the Office of Student Conduct for an incident that allegedly occurred last weekend. The warning would have prevented them from holding an event.
The Office of Student Conduct will not release the details of the incident, as the investigation is still ongoing.
Each year, Alpha Chi Omega hosts a male beauty pageant during which juniors and seniors compete to be named the Big Man On Campus. The sorority usually raises $8,000 in donations for Women Against Abuse, the sorority's national philanthropy, to support victims of domestic violence.
"Alpha Chi Omega is excited to work with the University in order to raise money for Women Against Abuse," Wharton senior and Alpha Chi Omega president Sara Clark wrote in an e-mail. "We are looking forward to hosting our Big Man on Campus philanthropy event this Thursday."
Until yesterday, the University has not allowed any fraternity or sorority chapter that is on administrative warning to host activities or events other than chapter meetings.
However, members of the Interfraternity Council, the Panhellenic Council and the Multicultural Greek Council sat down with officials from the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs and the Division of the Vice Provost for University Life yesterday to discuss changing the policy.
The group wrote a proposal urging VPUL and OFSA to modify the current ban on chapter activities hosted by chapters under administrative warning "to allow for community service, philanthropy, and educational programming that is not deemed to threaten the health, welfare, and safety of the University Community."
College senior and president of the Panhellenic Council, Drew Tye, wrote in an e-mail that the sorority system is "focused on the safety and well-being of our community, and are grateful for [VPUL and OFSA's] openness to our ideas."
At the moment the conditions of the proposal are intentionally vague, so as to give sororities and fraternities the opportunity to work with the University individually if they are on administrative warning, said Ashkenazi.
"We look to protect the integrity of our chapters and their relationships with their philanthropic affiliates," Tye wrote. "This proposal provides us with the appropriate means with which to accomplish these goals."
