Lambda Phi Epsilon

Lambda Phi Epsilon
ΛΦΕ
Founded	(1981-02-25) February 25, 1981 UCLA
Type	Social
Scope	National
Motto	To be Leaders Among Men ΗΓΕΜΟΝΕΣ ΕΝ ΑΝΘΡΩΠΟΙΣ ΕΙΝΑΙ
Colors	Royal Blue and White
Chapters	49
Nicknames	Lambdas, LPhiE, LFE
Headquarters	105 Kerckhoff Hall Los Angeles, California USA
Website	Lambda Phi Epsilon, Inc

ΛΦΕ (Lambda Phi Epsilon, also known as Lambdas, LPhiE, LFE) is a nationally-recognized Asian-interest fraternity based in the United States. Lambda Phi Epsilon's goals include servicing the community through various philanthropies, increasing Asian awareness, promoting academic scholarship, and strengthening the Asian American voice on campus. Lambda Phi Epsilon is currently the largest Asian-interest fraternity with a total of 49 chapters in the United States and Canada, and continues to expand to other campuses every year.

History

Founding Fathers

Not satisfied with the single Japanese Asian fraternity on the campus of University of California, Los Angeles, principal founder Craig Ishigo and a group of eighteen other dedicated men decided to form Lambda Phi Epsilon on February 25, 1981. Noting that Asian fraternities and sororities at the UC campuses were recognized only as service organizations due to their memberships focus on specific Asian groups and to the exclusion of other ethnic groups, the goal of the founders was to transcend this limitation. The founders hoped to set new and higher standards of excellence for all Asian-interest organizations to follow, while feeling a need to offer a fraternity that would be recognized by the IFC and the Greek system. While the original charter focused on Asian Pacifics Americans, people from all ethnic backgrounds were welcome to join and support the brotherhood of Lambda Phi Epsilon. Their vision was that the members would eventually become the leaders of their respective communities and bridge the gaps that divided the Asian American community through an affiliation with a common organization. Craig Ishigo and Darryl L. Mu signed the charter as president and vice president, respectively.

Hunter Chang Randy Fujimoto John Hanvey Craig Ishigo Jeff Kaku Bobby Kawai Dean Kumagawa Jim Lee Bruce Mau Ted Mihara

Neil Miyazaki Darryl L. Mu Kelvin Sakai Kevin Shida Albert Sun Weyton Tam Jamie Watanabe Bennett Wong Fred Wong

National Expansion

Ever since its founding at the University of California, Los Angeles, Lambda Phi Epsilon has continued to grow and establish presence on campuses all over the nation. Within a few years, the fraternity had chartered to the University of Texas, Austin (Zeta Chapter), the State University of New York, Buffalo (Nu Chapter), and the University of Michigan (Xi Chapter). In 1990, the organization was recognized by the North-American Interfraternity Conference, being the first Asian Interest fraternity to do so. The fraternity has since expanded to all corners of the United States and beyond.

State University of New York, Buffalo (Nu Chapter) was Lambda Phi Epsilon's first chapter to be chartered on the American East Coast. Starting as Delta Gamma Tau, on September 15, 1992, this fraternity merged with Lambda Phi Epsilon (effectively taking on Lambda Phi Epsilon's letters) to unify organizations with identical purposes and to strengthen the Asian-American voice in the campus community.

On December 5, 2004, Lambda Phi Epsilon established a chapter at the University of Toronto, thereby granting Lambda Phi Epsilon unofficial status as an international fraternity.

Philanthropy

The fraternity's national philanthropy are the bone marrow drives. For a patient living with leukemia or any other blood disorder, the odds of finding an appropriate match are already slim; their best chance of finding a matching donor lies within their own ethnic community. Unfortunately, Asian donors make up just a small fraction of the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP). Because of this, every chapter of Lambda Phi Epsilon hosts several bone marrow drives in conjunction with the Asian American Donor Program, the Cammy Lee Leukemia Foundation, and Asians for Miracle Marrow Matches, to inform, educate, and recruit potential marrow donors for the NMDP. By increasing the number of Asian donors in the national registry, Lambda Phi Epsilon hopes to better the chances of Asian patients finding donors that they are compatible with.

Lambda Phi Epsilon recognized bone marrow drives as the national philanthropy when Evan Chen, a brother from Stanford University, was diagnosed with leukemia. The fraternity, along with Evan’s friends, organized a joint effort to find a bone marrow match for Evan. What resulted was the largest bone marrow typing drive in the history of the National Marrow Donor Program and AADP (Asian American Donor Program). In a matter of days, over 2000 people were typed. A match was eventually found for Evan, unfortunately by that time the disease had taken its toll on him and he passed away in 1996. Since then, chapters across the nation hold annual bone marrow drives to help others find matching bone marrow. In particular, the fraternity seeks out "minority donors because they are the hardest to find."

In addition to hosting bone marrow drives on a national level, individual chapters of Lambda Phi Epsilon participate in their own local philanthropies including Habitat for Humanity, AIDS walks, beach clean-ups, adopting highways, and assisting the elderly community. On many occasions the fraternity teams up with other student organizations to help fund raise for various charities.

In Canada where bone marrow drives are not as visible, brothers participate annually in Relay 4 Life, a 12-hour walk or run marathon hosted by the Canadian Cancer Society. In 2007, Lambda Phi Epsilon at the University of Toronto raised over $1500 in support of funding cancer research. In addition to Relay 4 Life, brothers have participated in the blood drive along with weekly sandwich runs throughout the summer.

Chapters

Main article: List of Lambda Phi Epsilon chapters

Lambda Phi Epsilon has a total of 49 chapters in North America, with more than half of its chapters concentrated in California, New York, and Texas. A complete list of Lambda Phi Epsilon's chapters and links to their websites can be found at the link given above.

West Coast California (13) Washington (1)

The South Texas (4) Oklahoma (1) Florida (1)

The Midwest Illinois (3) Indiana (1) Kansas (1) Michigan (2)

East Coast Georgia (1) Maryland (1) Massachusetts (3) New Jersey (1) New York (8) North Carolina (1) Ontario - Canada (1) Pennsylvania (3) Virginia (3)

National Convention

File:LFE Convention XIV.jpg

Convention XIV in New York (2003)

Every year, Lambda Phi Epsilon holds an annual convention during Memorial Day weekend at various locations around the world. Convention is a national event for members to get together for business and pleasure, and is one of the largest Asian American gatherings in the United States. Parties, after-parties, as well as Brotherhood showcases where members from their respective chapters can perform a dance or step are held all weekend long. The winning chapter is awarded a sword called the "Keight." Named after the original eight step team members from the University of California, Santa Cruz (Kappa Chapter), the "Keight" is a figurative trophy passed down from the previous year's winner. Meetings are held to elect national board members and review current policies, and career development workshops are set up to help current members develop skills used in the professional world. The weekend is closed off with a final banquet.

In 2006, Lambda Phi Epsilon's UCLA chapter hosted Convention XVII which marked the twenty-fifth (silver) anniversary of the fraternity and was held in the fraternity's founding city, Los Angeles. Over 90% of the original founders were confirmed to attend.

Notable alumni

• Yul Kwon - winner of Survivor: Cook Islands and one of People magazine's Sexiest Men for 2006
• DJ JTrix - KYLD DJ
• Matthew Muckey - Associate Principal Trumpet of New York Philharmonic Orchestra. Alumni of Northwestern University, Eta Class at Alpha Eta Chapter.
• Jacob Hsu (Sigma Chapter) - CEO of The Symbio Group, a global product development and R&D outsourcing services company
• Jimmy Weng (Rho Chapter) - Founder of eParty Unlimited, Inc (http://www.epartyunlimited.com) - an online retailer of innovative party supplies and toys

Controversy

University of California, Riverside

In 2001, At 3000 Canyon Crest Drive in Riverside, CA two members of the UC Riverside chapter of Lambda Phi Epsilon, Frank Chi and Eric Wu were arrested by an undercover police officer who bought illegal drugs from Frank Chi. The raid on the house discovered ecstasy, ketamine, valium, somacin, and LSD. Frank Chi, pleaded guilty to possession of ecstasy.

San José State University

In January 2003, Lambda Phi Epsilon member and junior at SJSU, Alam Kim, was killed in a fight between members of Lambda Phi Epsilon and Pi Alpha Phi. Alam Kim was an alumnus of Lowell High School in San Francisco, California, where he commanded the Lowell Boys Drill Team. Friends say Alam was trying to stop the fight between the two fraternities before he was killed by getting stabbed through his heart. Although a homicide suspect has not been singled out, a $1 million warrant was issued for Long Duy Tran, a then-20-year-old San Jose man who is considered a major suspect in the incident.

University of California, Irvine

In 2005, the UC Irvine chapter was officially suspended due to an open investigation surrounding the death of a Cal Poly Pomona pledge. On August 8, 2005, pledges attempting to establish a chapter of Lambda Phi Epsilon at Cal Poly Pomona were participating in a football game with actives from UC Irvine. One pledge, Kenny Luong, was injured and died in the hospital on August 30, 2005. Police reported they had no evidence of any criminal activity that led to Luong's death, but still decided to conduct an investigation. In April 2007, Luong's family sued Lambda Phi Epsilon and the University of California, although no criminal charges have been filed in the case.

According to two witnesses who participated, the football game consisted of forty Lambda Phi Epsilon alumni and active members against ten pledges. The pledge team was also "significantly smaller and less physically fit than the bigger, more numerous UCI Lambdas. Players wore no helmets or pads, and were allowed access to water only at halftime." The pledges were also forced to play offense for the majority of the game, and the high volume of tackles was most likely the source of the brain injury Luong suffered during the game, an injury that later caused a hemorrhage and his eventual death. While the police investigation did not yield charges, the university suspended Lambda Phi Epsilon indefinitely. A year after Luong's death, his family sued the university for negligence, citing their lack of oversight. Following the filing of the suit, UC Irvine officials permanently remoked Lambda's charter. Because Lambda Phi Epsilon is an interest fraternity, however, there is no body capable of formally dissolving a chapter. The fraternity was prohibited from recruiting members on campus and no longer has official status as an affiliated organization.

University of Texas at Austin

In December 2005, Phanta Phoummarath, a new member of Lambda Phi Epsilon, died at the University of Texas at Austin due to alcohol poisoning. Reportedly, it was the night of "installation," a post-crossing celebration. After ingesting large amounts of alcohol (the medical examiner reported his blood-alcohol content was more than five times higher than the level needed to prove intoxication in Texas), other party-goers defaced his body with anti-gay epithets and obscene drawings. According to a probable cause affidavit, Phoummarath died after a heavy night of drinking in which fraternity members chanted for him and six other new members to finish as many as eight bottles of vodka, whiskey, rum, and other drinks being passed around. The university suspended Lambda Phi Epsilon's status as a registered student organization until December 19, 2011. Phoumarrath's family is also suing the fraternity.

In December 2006, one year after Phoummarath's death, after an investigation, a Travis County Grand Jury charged former President Benny Chan and former Pledge Captain Andrew Nguyen each with 7 counts of furnishing alcohol to minors, as well as 22 and 14 counts of hazing respectively. Kamal Pulukari was charged with 14 counts of hazing, while the fraternity itself was charged with 5 counts of hazing. While it was concluded that hazing did not directly result in the death of Phoummarath, the subsequent investigation found that new members were forced to exercise and food-hazed, all in violation of Texas hazing laws.

Northwestern University

On September 23, 2008, Northwestern University announced that a student-faculty judicial board had put the school's Lambda Phi Epsilon Alpha Eta Chapter on a four-year suspension lasting until the 2012-2013 school year. The board found the fraternity of breaking 4 rules: "hazing, a rule prohibiting violence or threatening the safety of any person, restrictions on recruitment until Winter Quarter of a student's freshman year and failure to cooperate with the investigation and student conduct hearings".

The pledges of Lambda Phi Epsilon at Northwestern University were forced to perform calisthenics and various exercises for hours, consumption of inedible foods, eating an onion, wearing matching uniforms, ritual head shaving, and received a number of physical injuries such as bruising and bloody spots.

University of Michigan

On January 12, 2009, Ann Arbor police said they arrested a fraternity member who poked an unruly partygoer with a sword Saturday morning. Officers were called for an assault at the Lambda Phi Epsilon fraternity at 820 Oxford Road at about 3 a.m. and found a 23-year-old man with a small cut on his abdomen, Detective Sgt. Richard Kinsey said. The man refused medical treatment and told police he was at a party at the location when a resident threatened him with a sword. Police reports said residents were trying to get the man to leave the party for some time when one of them lunged at him with a samurai sword and poked him.

Officers found the sword outside the home and arrested the 21-year-old resident. The investigation is ongoing.

Purdue University

On March 12, 2009, the fraternity Lambda Phi Epsilon was placed on probation after new members had images drawn on their face and bodies, were instructed to do calisthenics and undergo sleep deprivation and other "psychological abuses." Malavenda said some organizations apparently don't realize that even if a person consents to hazing, it's still a violation of policy. Purdue defines hazing as any activity that interferes with scholastic activities, creates a substantial risk or physical harm or degrades any person. "There is so much peer pressure going on, people want to belong, that consent might not be important," he said. "And these are not meaningful activities to determine who would be a better student leader, a better scholar or a leader in the community."

An investigation into Lambda Phi began after Malavenda saw a student on campus with drawings on his face. Lambda Phi Epsilon is on probation until the end of the spring 2010 semester.

Buffalo University

On May 12, 2009, six local college students who were charged with assault after allegedly taking part in a hazing ritual were allowed to remain free on bail while an investigation continues. City Judge James A. W. McLeod scheduled further proceedings for all six students who are being charged with felony second-degree assault and misdemeanor hazing. The six are said to be members of Lambda Phi Epsilon fraternity. They are accused of paddling three victims and forcing them to drink alcohol until they lost consciousness April 26 in a Winspear Avenue home.

Edward C. Cosgrove, attorney for all six defendants, confirmed that all six have been suspended from class until the criminal case is resolved. Five of the defendants are from the University at Buffalo. The sixth, Shim, is a junior in D’Youville’s nursing program. According to court documents, the victims were found unconscious in a locked upstairs bedroom, hospitalized for two days at Erie Medical Center and treated for “dehydration, alcohol poisoning, blood in urine and severe pain, swelling and severe bruising to buttocks.”

See also

Parker, Pearman (2007-01-31). "Blood Drive Keeps Georgia Stayin' Alive". The Red and Black Publishing Company Inc. Retrieved 2008-08-20. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

Tadena, Nathalie (2009-02-13). "Former members of Lambda Phi Epsilon work with others to start group and spread awareness". The Daily Northwestern. Retrieved 2009-02-24. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

External links

• Lambda Phi Epsilon National Fraternity, Inc
• Asian American Donor Program
• Asians for Miracle Marrow Matches
• Cammy Lee Leukemia Foundation
• In Memory of Phanta Jack Phoummarath/Educational Video