Fraternity Lawsuits against Colgate University
A Brief History
Free Association for Everyone but DKE
Stalinist Russia and the Nanny-state in Hamilton
Coercive Land Grab Portends End of Greek Life
Colgate Views Involved Parents as a Problem
Practical Advice for Fraternities In Free Speech Battles on Campus
Expectations for Fraternity and Sorority members
Congress Weighs
In on Students Rights
Frat Boys at Bay
The National Trend to Eliminate Greek Life
Students & Alumni for Colgate, Inc.
“Sell us your Greek houses
or we’ll eliminate you. Participate in a banned chapter and you
may be suspended or expelled!”
The bottom line of the Board of Trustees’ Coercive Land Grab
Scheme
A Brief History (updated February 2007)
* Alumni leaders for the fraternities and sororities tried to negotiate
a 99-year lease with Colgate giving the school access to the properties,
oversight of the undergraduates, and promises to upgrade the properties.
Colgate said, “No way. It’s our way or the highway!”
* With a “gun to the head,” Greek alumni leaders agreed to sell the houses to Colgate. The contracts to sell the houses give the University complete control, give them the right to make policy changes at any time, at their sole discretion without any review or appeal process. Legal experts estimate that Greek life at Colgate won’t survive more than five years.
* Alumni of Greek fraternities and sororities had to vote to approve the sale of their houses. Believing they had no other choice in hoping to extend the organization for undergraduates, the sales were approved. (Beta Theta Pi, Phi Delta Theta, Theta Chi, Delta Upsilon, Gamma Phi Beta, Kappa Alpha Gamma sold their houses. KDR, ATO, SC, PGD have other special circumstances.)
* Immediately after the sales were approved, then - Dean of the College Adam Weinberg published a letter in the Maroon News recanting the threat of de-recognition for chapters that refuse to sell their houses.
* Two DKE lawsuits are still alive. A lawsuit by undergraduates is under appeal and the Mu of DKE has filed a post argument brief.
* Alumni of Phi Delta Theta and Beta Theta Pi pursued derivative lawsuits. In both cases, the court found for Colgate University.
* SA4C has a membership of more than 1,000 students and alumni. Our goal is to guarantee the continued existence of Greek life at Colgate; to require the college to provide just cause for eliminating or suspending a chapter with review by an independent third party; and, if the chapter is eliminated, to compensate for the good will of the Greek organization. Approximately 50% alumni and 33% of undergraduates are Greek members.
* FACT – Freedom of Association, Coalition for Truth, a student group, organized a protest rally in April. More than 350 students attended. A petition with 1,200+ signatures was presented to President Rebecca Chopp with a list of demands. She has dismissed their concerns.
* We believe Colgate University has acted in a capricious and illegal manner. Taking private property in a coercive land grab was unnecessary to accomplish the goals of the “New Vision for Residential Education." We believe that protecting Greek life at Colgate is a worthy and important goal.
* While the lawsuits move through the courts, we turn our efforts to
protecting intellectual diversity at Colgate University. The Accountability
to Alumni Initiative seeks to influence the governance of the college,
leveraged with a donor-advised fund.