By Steve Holt, Staff Writer

Pi Kappa is the only social club on probation entering the pledging season, said Amanda Spell, coordinator of student organizations and activities.

While visiting bid night in early February for the club’s spring pledging season, two of Spell’s assistants found that no club sponsors were present at the activity, a violation of a pledging rule.

“It was our bad, a stupid mistake,” Pi Kappa president Mike Dockery said.

Dockery said the probation period will last a full year from the date of the infraction, and one of the immediate consequences was that Spell forced the club to admit the eight spring pledges after just two weeks.

Dockery said the club’s members were quickly told the truth about the mishap, but the pledges were told once pledging had ended, as not to tip them off about when they would be admitted as members.

The club’s president said he isn’t bitter about the probation.

“It just goes to show you that at least in some cases, it doesn’t matter what your reputation is, they’re doing their jobs,” he said.

He added that having sponsors at all activities is a good idea in theory, but he said he doubts the practicality about the current system.

“Once the sponsor has been around the pledging process for a few years, and new pledging rules are made, he isn’t going to know about it,” Dockery said. “He just won’t say anything.”

The infraction didn’t hurt Pi Kappa’s rating on the new five-star club rating system, which was released at the end of last school year. The club is a perfect 5 on the rating system.

But one more such infraction, and the club could be suspended, which worries Dockery.

“Since [the probation began], we have had to walk on our tiptoes,” Dockery said. “But we’re Pi Kappa, so we’re not really going out looking for trouble anyway.”