Lambda Chi Alpha legacy at USF cemented – for better or worse

A story that appeared in Thursday’s Oracle detailed the eviction of Lambda Chi Alpha (LXA), “one of USF’s largest Greek organizations.” Amid reports filed in relation to the fraternity’s malfeasant practices concerning hazing and alcohol, LXA’s board of directors voted unanimously to indefinitely suspend the USF branch of the fraternity.

LXA Director of Chapter Services John Holloway explained the decision in a letter.

“The (LXA) chapter and its members have chosen to behave in a manner inconsistent with our brotherhood’s values and ideals,” he wrote, “and the current members showed no hope for change.”

After being abandoned by the fraternity of which they were a part, individual former members of LXA might face charges themselves. According to Assistant Dean of Greek Life Megan Vadnais, “There may be individual referrals to (Student) Judicial Services.”

The hole that the ex-members of LXA dug themselves into was quite deep at that point. On Thursday, it may have gotten bigger. Eyewitnesses reported that people, some in LXA shirts, were throwing away copies of the Oracle. An estimated several hundred copies of the paper were removed from their on-campus bins and thrown into the trash. It has not yet been proven who did this or whether the perpetrators were a part of LXA.

Whoever decided to lash out at the Oracle for whatever reason should know that it wasn’t just unwise, it was immature, illegal and showed total disregard for every other member of the faculty, staff and student body at USF.

As for LXA, its national base was correct – the fraternity’s former members didn’t behave in accordance with the organization’s values and ideals. The abandonment they suffered, as well as the consequences they may reap from USF, are well deserved.

However, it is not the habit of the Oracle’s editorial board to berate someone once they are down. USF’s LXA wing is no longer a fraternity because the national arm of the organization has disowned it. The administration at USF is looking into the problem as well, and it is quite possible LXA’s former members might face repercussions. The sabotage of the Oracle by those who would descend to thuggery,

LXA members or not, is almost anticlimactic.

In a sense, it genuinely makes no difference whether it was former LXA members who attempted to sabotage this newspaper. Frankly, LXA’s legacy on campus has been assured regardless: It will be remembered for betraying its own values, descending into violence and alcohol abuse, and losing its very presence on campus as a consequence of not being able to follow the rules. Nothing more.