Delta Zeta Reportedly Sues DePauw
 

Article on USA Today web site:

http://www.usatoday.com/news/educati...sorority_N.htm

Excerpt from article:

Delta Zeta, the national sorority ousted this month from DePauw University for removing 23 women from active membership, filed a lawsuit Wednesday against the university.
It argues that DePauw administrators not only were aware of the sorority's activities last semester as it sought to revive a struggling chapter, but that they made "clear and unambiguous promises" to help the sorority. The lawsuit also argues that the national publicity surrounding the controversy could harm the long-term ability of the sororitiy to expand nationally. . . .

Earlier GC thread on the DePauw - Delta Zeta situation:

http://www.greekchat.com/gcforums/sh...ad.php?t=85032

Oh Jesus H. Christ.

If HQ was so worried about how this would affect them expanding, they should have thought about that before they pulled this shit with DePauw. They couldn't even perform good damage control.

No disrespect to the DZ sisters, but I hope HQ's ass loses this case.

OH MY! Well-if this is true. I would think it would be in their best interest to let it die down and go away. I guess they are trying to clear their name. We'll see how this plays out...

And they think that a lawsuit is going to help? Its just going to continue to draw attention to the situation, and generate more negative publicity.

"They'd like to have their good name restored and they'd like to have the chapter continue to operate," says Kevin O'Neill, an attorney with Patton Boggs in Washington, D.C., who has been consulting with Delta Zeta officials.

Kevin O'Neill is good.

This should be very interesting.

Very few at DePauw wanted to be DZ before this happened. Not saying that the sisterhood wasn't good enough -- but they were a struggling chapter with low numbers. Those are facts.

What makes DZ think that women at DePauw will want to join their organization now? It's like going to a party when it's obvious no one wants you there.

But hey...to Delta Chapter's 5 members. Go on wit' yo bad self, I guess.

Perhaps some of our top posters here on the subject will be asked to testify (since we all know so darn much about it)!

:rolleyes:

Delta Zeta HQ has a statement about the federal lawsuit posted on their web site, http://www.deltazeta.org/

Excerpt:

The university's actions leave us with little recourse for uncovering the truth and restoring the good reputation of Delta Zeta. As a result, Delta Zeta filed a federal lawsuit this morning in Indiana, alleging DePauw University has defamed our organization and our members, broken its contractual obligations to the sorority, and interfered with our business relationships. . . .

The statement on the web site says that a lawsuit was NOT Delta Zeta's preferred form of action.

I just read it.

I feel for DZ's chapters and her thousands of members worldwide who have to suffer because HQ just can't seem to let DePauw go.

This lawsuit simply isn't worth it. :(

How is DePauw going to "restore [DZ's] good name"?

Have President Bottoms (you're right Sandy, it is funny) go around the country saying OMG DZ IS TEH ROXXORS??

Every single sorority has had scandals - hazing, badly conducted membership reviews, accepting money from questionable sources, drug problems, what have you. The difference has been in the way the sorority handled it once it hit the street.

How in the world would this change a thing? And how would DePauw know this one way or the other? This implies the DePauw itself had insight into the reorg. process. I'm not sure exactly what DePauw said in its press releases but I don't think they claimed to know anything unilaterally. If anything they were primarily concerned with the turning out of members without regards to finals and housing.


Cause that's clearly what this is about.

What sort of contractual obligations does a university have to a student group on its campus? Particularly a GLO which does not usually (in my experience) receive funds from the university itself.

DZ also says:
But that's not the same thing as "contractual obligations."

Surely they know this is just going to stir the pot, right? They can't be that naive right? I'm losing faith in humanity...

Hello, Drolefille, and welcome to GreekChat :D

how could this possibly be a good idea? was the first round not enough of an exercise in pain and humiliation for all concerned?

How is this lawsuit going to repair the damage they did to themselves? The best thing would be to just let DePauw go and forget about that 100 year milestone. It obviously isn't worth it. We see it. Why can't they?

I feel for all the members of DZ who are seeing their GLO dragged through the mud. It's not fair to them and it really just sucks.

Apparently not. One black eye isn't enough. They want to go for the kill. :rolleyes: I wish they'd let it go but then I'm not a member of DZ so it's different for me.

DePauw has a response on its web site:

http://www.depauw.edu/news/index.asp?id=19185

The response quotes Ken Owen, a media relations person at DePauw: "We are disappointed in Delta Zeta's decision to initiate legal action. We believe that this lawsuit completely lacks merit and have every confidence that the courts will determine that the University acted lawfully and in the best interests of its students."

Perfect description.

This is blatantly stupid. If there wasn't enough reason to replace this administration at DZ before, there should be now. There is a long and continuous chain of extremely horrible choices being made, and individual DZ sisters are going to have to suffer the aftermath even though this is not THEIR fault. IT'S ONE CHAPTER. LET IT GO. Good lord. I doubt there will be much name clearing, and I don't see how the university is in ANY way shape or form obligated to let them stay there. We're guests of our institutions...that's like being kicked out of the party then trying to break down the door to get back in.

Yeah, I'm not saying I had a lot of faith left! But jeez :p

The lawsuit could have implications for fraternities and sororities nationwide. Generally, universities have no say over the internal operations of fraternities and sororities. "For a university to say, 'If you place this person on alumnae status, then we're not going to let you operate anymore,' the university is deciding that they get to choose the members," O'Neill [Kevin O'Neill, Delta Zeta's attorney] says. "That's a major concern for all the fraternities."

Regardless how anyone may fell about this situation, as Drolefille noted in an earlier post, the above is what this is about. As such, I agree with Mr. O'Neill that this should be a concern for all GLOs. And I am quite confident that every GLO HQ is going to follow this case rather closely.

DePauw didn't decide to sever ties with DZ until after the media shitstorm that ensued. IIRC These girls were put on Alumnae status in December and DePauw didn't shut them down until 3 months later, after all the media. Although I'm sure DZ's legal team will try to spin it like this, it's pretty clear that DePauw didn't do this purely because of membership issues.

All I have to say is

WHAT ARE THEY THINKING?! :confused:

I agree. There is something larger at work than trying to repair a reputation. Plus, there may be property issues with the house that we're not aware of, etc. I am not sure a lawsuit is where I would have gone but I think this is something we all need to follow.

With this lawsuit against DePauw University, does DZ national think they have "A SNOWBALL CHANCE IN HELL" of returning to the university ifand when the DePauw NPC opens for expansion?:confused:

Not only DePauw, but they've pretty much shot themselves in the foot and will be lucky if they'll be accepted to colonize when future campuses open for expansion.

they have 157 chapters--it sounds like they are pretty set.

Just because they have 157 chapters they should be content with not having to expand? :rolleyes:

What about the effects of this negative publicity going into recruitment? What if PNMs don't want DZ and will have a negative opinion of DZ because of this?

157 is a great number, but G-d forbid any more of their chapters will close because the DePauw debacle.

They got to be really stupid if they think that ANY school opened to colonization will even look at them right now.

Just because they have so many chapters doesn't mean they stop looking to add on new chapters.

I feel really bad for the sisters of DZ, I hope their IHQ realizes how much worse they just made the whole situation.

My point was--this likely will not kill them. And I would be willing to bet that many Greek org leaders are cheering them on. When the central notion that we are private membership organizations is eroded, we lose a lot. They have the means to stand up for that on all our behalves and I think that's good.

Has anyone seen a copy of the complaint? Anybody know the docket number?

Those of you who are DZs, how do you feel about this?

Great a statement.

Sorry, got to go!:D

Weird, weird, weird. One of the things Delta Zeta is seeking is for DePauw to state that the group didn't make any decisions based on appearance or race.

How could DePauw know how Delta Zeta made its membership decisions?

Different topic:

"Kevin O'Neill, an attorney with Patton Boggs in Washington, D.C., who has been consulting with Delta Zeta officials but did not file the lawsuit. If punitive damages are awarded, he said, the sorority plans to reinvest that money into self-esteem programming for women at DePauw and re-establishing their chapter."

Snort.

I don't claim to know how the group or the university made their decisions in the past, but really, self-esteem programming?

And that may very well dwindle. Membership numbers will be down in the fall, and the longer this gets dragged out, the worse the results will be. Those 157 chapters have to be maintained. Thinking that this won't have any affect on their numbers and reputation is a mistake.

I'd also imagine that alumnae donations will decrease greatly, and they probably already have. This lawsuit will cost an arm and a leg. DZ's finances are going to likely be in peril.

There's a saying in law school/the legal field "bad facts equals bad law". If DZ did want to set an example and create certain "rights" for sororities and fraternities, they picked a horrible case to bring. This is NOT the case you want to use to set an example.

While I see the argument I see some holes in the logic behind it, Mainly the fact that I don't believe Depauw made the decision to not allow DZ on campus was based PURELY on the fact that these ladies were given alumnae status. Second if it was true that no University has say over *Any* internal operations of a chapter is crazy because orgs are bound by University housing rules, student organization standards, and academic standards. There is a close tie between GLO and University that can not be denied, especially if the University owns the land the GLO is housing its members in.


I don't see why DZ wants to be back on campus.. if they thought they had a numbers problem before... I'm sure it's not going to improve the situation to come back after this mess....IF they do win and the chapter is allowed back on campus, I'm pretty sure they'll be rewarded with a rush party with the gentle sound of crickets in the background.

I can understand why these should be valid concerns. However, I agree with Heather17 that this possible litigation will likely not harm them in the long run.

(Note: I'm just using OTW's post since she has summed up nicely the likely issues arising out of the possible litigation.)

Maybe I don't understand how expansion works, but doesn't the campus NPC decide which NPC organization to invite and not the university? My guess is that in the short term, expansion may be put on hold by their HQ. Perhaps in perceived "weak" areas. (i.e. areas without alumna or other chapters). But I would also venture to guess that Delta Zeta will continue to do well in areas where they have a strong alumni base and respected chapters. In the long run, I feel they will be fine. My guess is that they do not *have to* expand at this time to continue to thrive down the line.

I doubt that any 18 or 19 year old college freshman is going to be concerned about some sort of litigation thing when rushing. They will be more concerned about the specific chapter on their specific campus.

However, it would make for some fun rush threads. "Like OMG, I so like ABC cause they didn't sue the university." Or "I'm all for XYZ cause I want to be a lawyer and they are know as the suing sorority."

Perhaps I missed something, but has any other Delta Zeta chapter closed because of the DePauw debacle? If not, then why would any chapter close *because of* the DePauw debacle?

Can't find it on Lexis or West and I'm guessing I shouldn't steal my bosses' PACER access for this - it's in the Southern District of Indiana if you want to go romping for it. :)

You're right, it is the campus PHC that decides which NPC will be invited to expand. However, to say that this won't be taken into consideration by the women who sit on PHC is just plain ridiculous. I'm sure they'll make the best decisions on what's right for their campus, but this situation's left DZ with a big fat Scarlet Letter, IMO.

You live in a perfect world. Sure, we'll have the open minded PNMs, but speaking as someone who used to be an impressionable 18 year old freshman, reps are everything. They don't give a shit about the litigation, but I'm thinking that there will be a lot of them who won't want to rush a sorority with a national bad rep even though it's at no fault of the individual chapters.


No chapters have closed. See kddani's post above. She explains it nicely.

Sorry but KD screwed up and trying now making amends and or suing!

What is wrong with this picture!

Is the school wrong? Is the GLO wrong?