Two Sonoma State University fraternities have had their charter revoked from the university. An email sent last Friday by university President Ruben Armiñana notified all faculty and students of the cause of the revocation, stating it was “due to recent and past violations of the Student Code of Conduct.”

The exact code of conduct that was broken is remaining confidential.

As noted in the email, “Sonoma State does not tolerate activities that do not align with the core values and mission of the University. Should individuals or groups violate University policy in any way, they will be subject to the full judicial process through the University’s judicial affairs process.”

“It is our hope that the organizations remaining will critically evaluate their practices, values, and overall experience of their members,” said Heather Howard Martin, director of the Center for Student Leadership, Involvement and Service when asked how revocation of the two chapters affect campus life. “The departure of any organization, while challenging, can also be a really positive opportunity for groups to make the changes necessary for greatness.”

The Sonoma State Greek Community is anticipating an expansion in the near future. In effort to bring two new Greek organizations to campus, the university began the expansion process last year with backing from unaffiliated members of the student body.

Currently, there are roughly 1400 affiliated Greek members at Sonoma State, making up approximately 18 percent  of the student population. The Greek system is composed of 19 Chartered Organizations, including seven fraternities, and 12 sororities. There has not been a new fraternity to join the Greek system since 2010.

Micki Estuesta, the Campus Life Advisor, has been working diligently to bring the new organizations to campus. The expansion and recognition process is posted online via Sonoma State’s website for those with inquiry on the logistics.

According to Micki Estuesta, Sonoma State has received 12 fraternity applications, with hope to select one to two fraternities. Before the final one to two fraternities are chosen and approved, three or four fraternities will be invited to Sonoma to give presentations and participate in an open forum, in effort for any person in interest to review the exhibition of the fraternity.

These forums will be open to the public, including community members, faculty, and the student body to attend.

The goal is to bring organizations to campus that share the same values and principles as held by Sonoma State.

The finalization process of determining which organization(s) will best fit Sonoma is anticipated to take time, however, the goal is to welcome the new fraternities by the upcoming spring 2016 semester.

“All of us on IFC are extremely excited to help introduce additional fraternities to campus,” said Jovani Silva, the recruitment chair for the International Fraternity Council (IFC).  “I think this expansion will be beneficial to both the Rohnert Park and campus community, and I am looking forward to see what the future holds.”