Fraternity Lawsuits against Colgate University
Free Association for Everyone but DKE
Stalinist Russia and the Nanny-state in Hamilton
Student protest rally to protect Greek life, honor intellectual diversity at Colgate See the video!
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
(N.B. This lawsuit is under appeal)
Fraternity files new suit against Colgate
Post-Standard News Updates
Wednesday, November 02, 2005
By Sapna Kollali Staff writer
The fraternity suing Colgate University over its new housing policy has filed another lawsuit over the Madison County college’s decision not to recognize its chapter.
Delta Kappa Epsilon filed a suit in state supreme court Friday claiming the university arbitrarily applied campus rules to the fraternity and is abiding by terms not explicitly set forth in the housing policy that took effect this semester. The suit seeks to reinstate DKE as a recognized student organization on campus.
The housing policy, which included the university taking control of all Greek houses, sparked the first DKE lawsuit in March as well as two other lawsuits by alumni members of other fraternities.
A key component of that policy is that all students, with specific exceptions, live in university-owned housing. Dean of the College Adam “Weinberg acknowledged that the student members of DKE were in fact in compliance with this requirement,” the suit states.
DKE argues in its lawsuit that the housing policy does not require the sale of a chapter house in order to retain recognition.
Colgate spokesman Charlie Melichar said the college has been clear from the beginning about its policies, and cited a 2004 letter from Board of Trustees Chairman John Golden to fraternity and sorority alumni warning: “Only those Greek-letter organizations that choose to sell (their houses) to the university will continue to be recognized by the university and house undergraduate members in their traditional chapter houses.”
The DKE suit notes that two sororities and one fraternity do not own any property to sell, and they continue to be recognized by Colgate because their members live in university housing. Other non-Greek student organizations also continue to be recognized even though they did not sell any property to the university, DKE attorney Thomas Wiencek said.
The student handbook states a “group or organization will not be held collectively responsible for its members’ actions” outside of misconduct and policy violations, Wiencek said. That provision means current DKE’s 40 to 50 undergraduate members should not be punished because the alumni corporation would not sell the chapter house, he said.
“All the brothers are in university housing and have no violations of university regulations. Yet, they received the worst sanction possible – they’re not recognized and had no hearing, no due process,” Wiencek said. “Colgate has a legal obligation to apply its rules and regulations evenly.”
The university has said it is trying to buy and upgrade Greek houses to strengthen the system. Officials seek to eliminate underage drinking and other problems at the houses by running them as university residences.