On the afternoon of Thursday, February 4, Dartmouth’s chapter of Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity (SAE) was officially derecognized by the College. This marks the second fraternity derecognition at the college in the past year and the second under Hanlon’s tenure as president, following Alpha Delta’s derecognition last spring. In comparison, only three fraternities were derecognized by the college in the twenty years prior, all of which have since been reinstated.

The fraternity had been under investigation by SAE’s national organization and the Hanover Police Department since the fall due to allegations of hazing. The announcement marks the end of a one-hundred-eight-year-old institution at Dartmouth.

The move marks another point in a disturbing trendline mapped out by President Hanlon’s Moving Dartmouth Forward initiative. In a report released last January as part of MDF, the steering committee suggested “that upon the de-recognition of an organization, it should not be allowed to return to campus, as either a residential or non-residential facility”. It is likely that the College will soon ask the house’s residents to find new living accommodations within the next few weeks. The report also suggests that the College report “privately-owned residences that are derecognized” to the Town of Hanover to “ensure compliance with any applicable zoning and other laws” and, ominously, “acquire their facilities and repurpose them for the College’s residential, social and academic purposes.” Apparently, the College has no desire to hide its true intentions from the public and the Dartmouth student body.

The Tabard, one of Dartmouth’s coeducational fraternities, was also put on suspension for three terms due to hazing violations.