Below is an outline of the known operations of Theta Nu Epsilon, commonly referred to as the Machine, confirmed through coverage by The Crimson White during the 2011-2012 school year. This is a working document that will be updated as The CW’s coverage continues. All facts below have been checked by multiple sources with direct knowledge of the Machine and have been reported on in earlier CW stories. If you have information about the Machine that you think is relevant, please contact CW editor-in-chief Victor Luckerson at [email protected].

Membership

• Fraternities: Beta Theta Pi, Delta Chi, Delta Kappa Epsilon, Delta Tau Delta, Kappa Alpha Order, Kappa Sigma, Lambda Chi Alpha, Phi Delta Theta, Phi Gamma Delta, Pi Kappa Alpha, Pi Kappa Phi, Sigma Alpha Epsilon, Sigma Chi, Sigma Nu, Theta Chi, Zeta Beta Tau
• Sororities: Alpha Chi Omega, Alpha Delta Pi, Alpha Gamma Delta, Alpha, Omicron Pi, Chi Omega, Delta Delta Delta, Delta Zeta, Kappa Delta, Kappa Kappa Gamma, Phi Mu, Pi Beta Phi, Zeta Tau Alpha

II. Each house has two Machine representatives, an older one and a younger one, that attend regular Machine meetings.

III. The Machine has an executive board that includes a president, a vice president and a treasurer

SGA Involvement I. Each year the Machine secretly endorses candidates for SGA senate and SGA executive offices.

II.There is no formal primary process to gain the Machine nomination. A Machine representative for a particular house may “take a name down,” meaning he or she will recommend to the Machine a member of his or her house for candidacy at a meeting of the entire group. Each house gets one vote by the older Machine representative to decide who the Machine will support in SGA elections. The members write the name of the candidate they want on paper and tally the votes to produce the Machine’s candidates for SGA elections.

III. The Machine provides cash campaign funding to at least some of its endorsed candidates.

Finances I. The 28 fraternities and sororities affiliated with the Machine pay at least $850 per semester to fund the organization.

II. Some of these funds go toward bar tabs for Machine representatives at parties and an annual beach trip for Machine representatives.