Letters
Friday, April 22, 2005
Ms. Rebecca Chopp, Ph.D.
Office of the President
Colgate University
Hamilton, NY 13346
Dear Rebecca:
Comments made by you, Adam Weinberg, and recorded in the minutes of the Board of Trustees compel me to reiterate that the mission of Students & Alumni for Colgate, Inc. is to improve the educational experience of students. Like you, we believe the college experience includes more than just academics.
Your administration has yet to make a persuasive argument to defend the demand of owning the Greek organization properties. Instead, it appears that your agenda is a coercive property taking of valuable real estate coupled with (in spite of your denials) a strategic plan to eliminate Greek life at Colgate.
The task force found that “…alumni-owned housing did not provide for the safety and personal growth of students on a par with what is found in university housing.” There is no evidence to support the claim.
In fact, the simple documentation from Colgate’s report, as required by the Jeanne Clay Disclosure of Campus Crime Statistics Act, shows that for the aggregate three-year period 2001-2003 (2004 reports are not published) liquor violations and drug violations for on-campus property versus non-campus property were 1,328 to 5 and 443 to 3, respectively. Fortunately, forcible sex offences and illegal weapon possessions were in the single digits, but even here, on-campus property versus non-campus property reported 7 to 2 and 9 to 0. It’s safer to live in a fraternity or sorority than in Colgate-owned housing!
And, regarding personal growth, how can a task force fairly judge what an individual will value?
We consistently hear from Greek alumni and undergraduates who say that their most valuable experience and best memories at Colgate University derive from their fraternal membership. We agree that students mature through managing their own homes and social life. It’s patently ridiculous to insist that ownership of the houses furthers this goal.
Colgate’s stated rationale to acquire the properties – safety and personal growth – is a transparent disguise to put the college in a strong position to eliminate the Greek system. You accuse us of misinformation, yet our claims are well founded.
Colgate University had a proud tradition of independent thinking, intellectual diversity and a student-led social life. I fear we are at a watershed and that the incremental changes you demand continue to whittle away at both the spirit and integrity of what we fortunate alumni knew as “Colgate.”
Like the frog that is desensitized by moderate increases in heat to slowly boil to death, today’s Colgate students are compromised by Colgate’s continued infringement of their civil rights, the taking of personal property under threats, and the disdain for those who dare to question the judgment of such actions.
Sincerely,
Charles H. Sanford III, PDT ‘58
P.S. Alumni have called me saying my contact information
has been deleted in the Colgate Alumni directory. I assume this is a technical
error and ask that you direct your IT department to correct it.