UCI fraternity faces questions

An Asian-American fraternity, under suspension at UC Irvine following

the Aug. 28 death of a student, was enjoying a banner year before

tragedy brought it to a halt late last month.

At the end of August, UCI put Lambda Phi Epsilon on interim

emergency suspension following the death of Cal Poly Pomona student

and Lambda Phi Epsilon pledge Kenny Luong. Irvine police are

investigating whether Luong, 19, who died of head injuries sustained

in a football game with UCI members of the fraternity, was a victim

of hazing.

Before Luong’s death put the fraternity’s name in the news, the

Greek organization was quietly having one of its most prosperous

years at UCI. During the 2004-05 school year, Lambda Phi Epsilon

raised more than $5,000 for tsunami relief and sponsored a pair of

bone marrow drives for Asians in the community. In May, the

fraternity won the Dean of Students Award for Excellence in

Fundraising -- the first such award it had ever received.

As the media published accounts of Luong’s death, which reportedly

resulted from a brutal tackle in a game played with no padding or

helmets, many in the UCI community found the reports hard to connect

to the fraternity they had known.

“Our experience with them has just been really excellent,” said

Sharon Sugiyama, director of Asians for Miracle Marrow Matches, the

group that Lambda Phi Epsilon has sponsored since 1994. “They’ve

shown a commitment to providing service to their fellow mankind.

They’re very young, but I think they have this sense of

responsibility, and they want to service those who need help.

“I’m just kind of shocked at this. I can’t imagine they would do

anything inappropriate.”

With police still investigating the football incident, which took

place at San Marco Park in Irvine, the fraternity is temporarily on

hold. According to media relations director Jim Cohen, Lambda Phi

Epsilon cannot register as an organization for fall quarter, use

campus facilities for activities, participate in intramural sports or

sponsor events on campus. The suspension will last at least until the

police and university investigations are complete.

“After the investigation is complete, there are several possible

outcomes, including permanently banning the group from the campus --

meaning they will no longer exist at UCI nor be allowed to exist here

in the future,” Cohen wrote in an e-mail to the Daily Pilot.

Travis Low, the president of Lambda Phi Epsilon at UCI, declined

comment for this story.

UCI has suspended a fraternity only once before, in 2002, when it

held back the Delta Sigma Chapter of Beta Theta Pi for two years due

to hazing violations. After meeting a number of criteria set by

campus officials, the chapter recommenced at UCI in March of this

year.

Lambda Phi Epsilon, one of three Asian-American fraternities at

UCI, formed a chapter on the campus in 1989. The fraternity, which

had around 40 members before its suspension, won a reputation over

the years for its enthusiastic charity drives and its knack for

getting other clubs and individuals behind a cause. When Lambda Phi

Epsilon held a poker tournament in the spring to raise money for

tsunami victims and when it held the marrow drive, it got more than

100 community members involved.

In 2003-04, the fraternity also dedicated 32 hours to cleaning up

the Little Saigon neighborhood in Westminster. It was that hands-on

approach that helped Lambda Phi Epsilon win the fundraising award in

May, according to Dean of Students Sally Peterson.

“You can’t win it by going out there and doing credit card

solicitations,” Peterson explained. “You have to have a significant

amount of organizations involved along with the amount of money

raised.”

At other times during the year, the group set up tables along Ring

Road to sign up marrow donors. Enisha Narang, the recruitment manager

for Asians for Miracle Marrow Matches, said the UCI chapter of Lambda

Phi Epsilon has recruited more than 3,400 donors over the last

decade. In 2004-05, Narang added, the fraternity logged more than 250

volunteer hours for the marrow cause.

“They have had at least one, if not more than one, of their

registrants donate marrow to save a life,” Sugiyama said.

* MICHAEL MILLER covers education and may be reached at (714)

966-4617 or by e-mail at [email protected].