madmax,
The NPC policy will help, but over and above that there have been freedom of association lawsuits over things like this and the outcome was that one group cannot be prevented from taking pledges as any sort of disciplinary measure. If they wanted to place a moratorium on pledging for ALL the groups for a semester they could - but the point is that individual groups cannot be punished or sanctioned in this way.

WHAT?!??!??!

Duquesne has suspended groups in the past TONS OF TIMES and not allowed groups to take a classes!!!!! SAE is almost DEAD because of it. They've been suspended for over a year and 1/2

How did I not see this before!? You mean at other universities these suspensions can't happen!? Duquesne is private.

Can someone please get me information about these cases (like their names?) So that I can use that as ammunition as well? Please? any Ideas?

If I were you, I'd do what others have already suggested and take yourself out of the discussions. This sounds like a bigger issue than just your chapter and it needs to be addressed by the national orgs.

Besides, at least with the nationals playing the "heavy" you come out cleaner with your school.

Maybe it was somethign as simple as you missed a deadline for dropping off the paperwork. Our school operated that way. Shit liek that was always a scare tactic. I cant tell you how many times we had "officially lost university recognition" because we didnt turn in our Registerd Student Org. Packet each semester by the deadline. They always took it late and it was all cool.

As for NIC, it was always my understanding that penalizing a chapter through recruitment penalties was THE TABOO. It was to NEVER be done - kinda a hit below the belt.

archangel,

I sent you a PM, let me know if you didn't get it.

If a group is suspended and unrecognized by the school they aren't allowed to take pledges. All the groups you mentioned are still on the Duquesne website (not to mention I was greeted by a pic of a girl in big ole ZTA letters when I opened the site) so this doesn't apply to them. 'Kay?

However, if a group is in good standing or simply on probation, forbidding them from taking any pledges is not legal. (A headquarters CAN forbid a chapter to take pledges however, since they are a private entity and the members have agreed to abide by their decisions.)

What scares me about all this is there is a LAW SCHOOL right there...

What the NIC and NPC policies mean is that your local IFC or Panhel cannot punish your group, even for a major rush infraction or serious hazing, by reducing your ability to take in new members. They don't bind the school's administration in any way.

However, historically, this is not the method schools usually choose to use. Most schools start with fines and then de-recognition if they don't like what a chapter is doing. I agree with what most people said - get your nationals working on this.