Members of the UT Austin Community,

The Texas Interfraternity Council (IFC) and University Panhellenic Council (UPC) have come together to write this public letter after a semester of behavior from Texas Rho that exemplifies many of the risks of associating with an organization that is not recognized by the University and not governed by an overarching council.

For those who do not know the history, “Texas Rho” was formerly a chapter of Sigma Alpha Epsilon at the University of Texas. In 2017, the Texas Rho chapter of Sigma Alpha Epsilon was suspended from the IFC. The fraternity’s national headquarters suspended the chapter’s charter and instructed the chapter to disband. The University no longer recognized the chapter as a student organization, as it conducted an independent investigation and found the chapter responsible for serious hazing offenses. This organization, currently known as “Texas Rho,” is no longer a fraternity or recognized student organization whatsoever.

The Texas Interfraternity Council (IFC), as well as the University Panhellenic Council (UPC), provides valuable benefits and programs to its fraternities and their members. Further, IFC fraternities commit to upholding important risk reduction standards around alcohol and drugs, hazing, and sexual misconduct. Since 2017, it has become clear that the lack of educational programming and structural accountability over Texas Rho has led to a worsening of their issues and the organization has become extremely unsafe for the UT Austin community. 

If a student joins a group not recognized by IFC, UPC, or the University, they will not receive programming, support, benefits and tools from these organizations or UT Sorority and Fraternity Life, nor will they receive valuable training and resources that come with affiliation with a national organization. 

IFC and UPC want to explicitly state to our members, as well as the members of the UT community, that we fully condemn the actions of Texas Rho and the way they have continued to operate. There is inherent danger in attending this organization’s events as they are not bound to the same policies and held accountable in the way that IFC and UPC organizations are. IFC and the University do not have jurisdiction over this organization, so they are unable to encourage improved behavior through their standards process as they can with IFC fraternities and other recognized student organizations. Further, UPC Bylaws do not allow members to associate with non-affiliated organizations like Texas Rho, as stated in Article XVII, Section 2C.  

Associating with organizations that are not recognized by the University is explicitly disallowed, but more importantly, we want to emphasize the importance of the safety of all of our members and how accountability and standards processes play a key role in achieving this goal. We urge all members to consider the examples of behavior that demonstrate these risks and to think about how association with these ideals reflects on individuals, chapters, and the community.

Texas Interfraternity Council and University Panhellenic Council