The University of Wisconsin branch of the fraternity Sigma Alpha Epsilon faces losing its status as a student organization pending a Student Judiciary decision today.

In December, the Greek Advisor filed a complaint against SAE for a party the fraternity held last Halloween.

Following the party, the Madison Police Department issued SAE chapter members 266 citations — totaling more than $94,000 in fines.

Last month, the Committee on Student Organizations held a hearing for the complaint.

According to Nick Fox, chair of both the CSO and the Student Judiciary, "the CSO found that SAE violated the code of conduct, and implemented sanctions."

These sanctions consisted of revoking their registered student organization status for two and a half years, and limitations on their reapplication process.

SAE filed an appeal, arguing the CSO violated the due process timeline, which allows a window of four weeks after the alleged incident to file a complaint.

According to Amber Hodgson, vice chief justice of the Student Judiciary, SAE's argument is that the Greek Advisor did not file the complaint on time, which resulted in the claim being heard too late by the CSO, so punishments from the CSO on this matter should not even be considered.

Hodgson added that SAE argued they had "already been punished by the Greek Judicial Board … and the CSO should not have heard about it."

However, SAE vice president Zach Frey — who presented the fraternity's case to Student Judiciary — disagreed, and said the fault lies on the CSO's shoulders.

"[If you look at] the by-laws, it is pretty clear that [CSO] violated due process," Frey said.

SAE filed a motion for preliminary release Monday, which was approved by the Student Judiciary.

Preliminary release grants the fraternity temporary status as a student organization, and as a result, SAE maintains its fraternity charter for now.

And according to Frey, possessing a charter is crucial for the group to function.

If SAE's status as a student organization is revoked, the national organization will "probably be forced to revoke [the charter]," Frey added.

The options for SAE's future on the UW campus are somewhat of a catch-22 that largely depends upon the decision of the Student Judiciary.

If the Student Judiciary decides to overturn the punishment the CSO instated and the Greek Judicial Board stands firm with its punishment, then SAE can be a student organization, but will be not allowed to be a fraternity, Hodgson said.

But if the Student Judiciary affirms CSO's retribution stand, SAE's status as a student organization will be nullified regardless of the Greek Judicial Board's decision because having student organization status is required for the group to be recognized as a fraternity.

"We still have chapter [meetings], but that is about all we do," Frey said, when asked how SAE was working through this adversity.

Frey mentioned that despite the difficult situation that has lingered for SAE members since the original complaint in December, members of the fraternity still live in the house and relationships between members have not faltered.