Evans Falsely Connects DKE To The Colgate Review
The Undergraduate Brotherhood of Mu of Delta Kappa Epsilon
Maroon News Posted: 3/25/05
To The Editor:
The undergraduate brotherhood of Mu of Delta Kappa Epsilon would like
to address the Colgate community on a recent Letter to the editor
that appeared in the March 4. 2005 Colgate Maroon-News by Ben Evans. Mr.
Evans' letter is full of factual errors, unfound biases and outlandish
conspiracy theories.
Mr. Evans attempts to create a connection between DKE, SA4C, and The
Colgate Review, culminating in some vast right-wing conspiracy that is
controlled by DKE. This is patently false.
The president of SA4C, Tim Sanford is a brother of Phi Delta Theta. Of
the listed members on www.sa4c.com, roughly 80 percent are listed as non-DKE
members.
There are no DKE's on the staff of the Colgate Review.
There are registered Libertarians, Democrats and Republicans in our brotherhood. There is no vast right-wing DKE conspiracy.
We are truly saddened by Mr. Evans comments stating that we should "transfer if [we] are so against Colgate's practices." We do not share his vision of a Colgate community in which members are forced to leave if their views are not shared by those in power, namely the Board of Trustees, administration, and faculty. We cannot and will not transfer. We love Colgate. The number of buildings on this campus that adorn the proud names of DKE brothers, including but not limited to Colgate, Whitnall, Shepardson, Cotterell, and Parke, are a testament of our commitment to the betterment of this institution.
Currently, the co-chairman of the Senior Class Gift Committee, the founder of Colgate's Cricket Club, the co-Editor-in-Chief of the Colgate Forum, the varsity swim team captain, and co-president of the Student Athletic Advisory Committee are DKE's. Our attempts to further Colgate's mission do not stop with our leadership responsibilities. DKE's are scholars. Our average GPA last semester was higher than the university average. We are continually striving to make this institution better, not just for ourselves, but for the entire Colgate community.
We regret that Mr. Evans would burn a student publication simply because he disagrees with it. This action is more akin to fascism than the writings held within the publication that he labels a "Nazi paper."
When Mr. Evans states that DKE is, "demonstrating the same conservative practices which it holds so dear," we completely agree with him. DKE is conservative, but not in the manner in which Mr. Evans accuses us. We hold dear to our hearts the history and traditions of our fraternal order. The tradition of a privately owned DKE house dates back to the 1890's. For over one hundred and ten years, DKE men have enjoyed living in a home that they can truly call their own. This notion of conservatism does not influence or contradict any individual brother's personal political philosophy.
Yes, Mr. Evans, we are "disgruntled at the school for taking [our] house." The fact that Mr. Evans defines Colgate's action as "taking" our house says enough. He hits the nail on the head: Colgate is trying to take our house by unlawful measures.
Our lawsuit is not just about DKE. This lawsuit is about an institution of higher learning acting like a corporate bully, illegally forcing the sale of all the "mom and pop shops" that have housed and fed Colgate students on Broad Street for the past one hundred and ten years. This lawsuit is also about ensuring every current and future Colgate student that his or her Constitutional First Amendment rights will be respected by Colgate University.
Colgate University's Code of Student Rights and Responsibilities states, "Students are also members of the community at large, and no enumeration of their rights and responsibilities as students shall be deemed to conflict with rights they enjoy and rightful responsibilities they incur as citizens. Furthermore, this particular Code of Student Rights and Responsibilities shall not be presumed to preclude other rights and responsibilities, which properly belong to students as members of an educational community.
Colgate University is constantly evolving, and the rights and responsibilities of members of this community must be regularly reassessed." The New Vision is Colgate's "reassessment" of student rights: Colgate has now decided that they will not respect the rights you enjoy as a citizen.
We hope that every student at Colgate will come to understand that this is not just about our brotherhood. This concerns all 2,800 of you.
We believe in the merits of our lawsuit and that the courts will decide in our favor. We sincerely hope that our legal action will enable all Colgate students to freely exercise their Constitutional First Amendment rights without the risk of expulsion.
Deo ac Veritati
The Undergraduate Brotherhood of Mu of Delta Kappa Epsilon
© Copyright 2007 Maroon News