Lawyers save another chapter
 

The freedom to dress-up on halloween has been confirmed again at Auburn, thanks to some help from our lawyer friends.

The Univ. tried to bother this chapter for having a halloween party, which wasn't up to their PC standards, but our lawyers on call saved to day.

Next ime we go for $$$$$$$.

Here's the article:




Auburn fraternity reinstated under lawsuit settlement

The Associated Press
06-30-2002


AUBURN

A second white fraternity whose members dressed in racially offensive Halloween costumes has been reinstated at Auburn University as part of the settlement of its lawsuit against the school.

Delta Sigma Phi Fraternity's local chapter will be reinstated under the agreement, chapter president Matt Furin said.

Beta Theta Pi, which also had lost its university recognition in November, settled its $100 million lawsuit in May and also was reinstated.

Neither chapter received any financial payment from the university for settling the lawsuits.

Furin said the two Delta Sigma Phi members who wore KKK attire and blackface with a hangman's noose at last year's Halloween party won't be allowed back into the fraternity. Five others who were suspended from the chapter will be dealt with in the fall, he said.

"It is a relief to be done with this part of it," Furin told The Opelika-Auburn News.

He said members will educate themselves so the incident won't be repeated.

"We reached an agreement that both sides are comfortable with, and everything worked out in the best interest of everyone involved," Furin said, without disclosing details of the settlement.

The university's attorney, Lee Armstrong, could not be reached for comment Friday.

Furin said the fraternity will hold several diversity-related activities, although the specifics have not yet been decided.

"Diversity and respect are essential elements of the philosophy of Delta Sigma Phi," said Tim Ardillo, Delta Sigma Phi's deputy executive director. "We, as a national organization, are dedicated to fostering our long-standing relationship with Auburn University and its communities."

I don't and will probably never know the answer to this, so I will simply ask the question:

Was this initial situation an honest mistake, and, if so, was stupidity rewarded?

If not, and this was a racist action, should these chapters be reinstated?

Bottom line, how can we know and how can the actions of these members be justified?

I'm always in favor of saving chapters that deserve to survive. Perhaps that's the case here -- perhaps not. I can't read the minds of those who participated in this idiotic act. I can only hope that their intentions were not as they appear on the face of the situation.

no matter what happened with the lawyers. i can't help but feel that a chapter in this position is still doomed to fail. even though it was supposedly (this specific word because i don't personally know) just a few of the members, who is going to want to join an organization that got in trouble for racist stuff. it's sad but i do think that numbers will slowly but surely drop.

marissa

I'm not sure I'm cheering on this one. Not every chapter that is closed is closed wrongly.

I'm not happy about this settlement at all. Whether these chapters meant it intentionally or just had a brain-fart of massive proportions, their actions were incredibly offensive and hurtful. It seems like a slap on the wrist to me.

The moronic ineptitude of the members while seemingly funny was uncalled for and should not have happened by so called adults.

I am glad to see that they did not lose their Charter but hope in the same tone hoped they learned a lesson of and about what life is really like!l:eek:

you can actually call this just "dressing up? this is blatant ignorance in the highest regard. let's see what happens when the que's see them around. i bet the butt whupping will last a while.

They were excercising their freedom of expression. Whether we agree or not with their opinion or its vehicle we need to respect that right.

No doubt it was a first amendment issue that forced the University to recant its punishment. It seems unfortunate that the brothers were expelled for this. They were made into scapegoats, if the chapter really thought this was wrong they wouldn't have been doing it anyway. I have little doubt that those brothers will remain unofficially affiliated with the chapter and partake in a lot of the social benefits.

I am surprised that Greeklawgirl, as a defender of the constitution, would recomend punishment for excercising a 1st amendment right.

Ladies and Gentlemen, America is not an easy democracy, it has to be fought for every day, or else we will find our rights slipping away. What can happen to one group espousing an unpopular opinion can easily happen to your group later.

The Virtue of America is that you can stand toe to toe with another citizen and scream at each other at the top of your lungs we all understand that intrinsically. But the responsibility (which most people lose sight of) is that you have to be prepared to FIGHT for that person to be able to give that opinion, because some day it might be someone else trying to rob you of your voice.

(James steps off his soapbox)

James, as an officer of the court, I understand that they have a right to exercise their rights under the Constitution.

But as a human being, I don't have to like what those frat boys--and lets not kid ourselves, thats what they are--did. It was stupid and cruel and offensive. They should be ashamed of themselves and there should be some kind of consequence to their actions.

The settlement may very well have been appropriate under the law. But that doesn't mean that it sits well with me morally.

Remember James, I'm a person, too. :)

Thank you for the clarification. I too find some actions offensive and am likely to start foaming at the mouth at them. But I will draw the line when my friends want to say . . burn the people's house down.

Or in this case, I may deplore their actions, but I would not suport some type of official or institutional response.

And certainly not some feel good scape goatism that the chapter is doing in an attempt to cut their losses.

Oh, I have several thoughts.

First, if it isn't illegal I don't agree with any university punishment--period. I greatly believe in the bill of rights even for those with whom I disagree. Instead, I favor public shaming and ridicule. If an organization, GLO or otherwise, engages in beliefs or practices with which you disagree, then publicly call them upon it. IN this case, all the other GLO's could make signs and picket their house, refuse to associate with them in mixers, intramurals. etc.

Second, if it is illegal, then I think you have to take a careful look at the situation. If the group is sponsoring illegal activity, then there are statutes which deal with such groups and they should be procecuted. However, if it is a couple of idiots, then I think the university should deal with them on an individual basis. Group punishment is morally wrong. If one man does XXX, we shall punish all XXXs. If one Hispanic does XXX, then we shall punish all Hispanics. If one Sigma Chi does XXX, then we shall punish all Sigma Chi's. As an Aside, Group or collective punishment is one of the principal terror tactics used by muderous regimes throughout history. The Nazis used it frequently.

Jack

Let them both die out slow.....
 

Both, those chapters should be gone, off that campus! First of free speach is not meant to harm others, and if you (James) feel it dose mean that your as sick as they are. The pictures they took were enough to say, "Damn Racist Pigs."
-Heath

Prophet finds new "right" in US Constitution
 

If the fraternities had made poster-size prints of the nasty photos, and hung them outside the Campus Center and outside the door of every Afro-Amer chapter house/room, some case could be made that someone was harmed.

But no one was "harmed" in this case. Only the "perpetually annoyed" and "professional protestors" got upset, and they tried to illegally use their control of the campus to attack the enemy fraternities.

The pictures were not circulated by the chapter. Some outside firm erroneously put the pictures on an open internet site.

It is not illegal to dress up on halloween, even if the costume doesn't meet your test of "political correctness."

It is not illegal to be a "damn racist pig." We don't like them, and we wish they hadn't done this.

In my opinion, the greatest benefit of undergraduate fratenity life is the "opportunity to fail."

And, hopefully, to learn from it.

Both nat'l/int'l HQ and the campus have the right not to recognize groups that it deems racist or offensive. People have the right to be racist or offensive, but that doesn't mean the university has to give the chapter its protection as a registered student organization.

Free speech is exactly that FREE, you have to take the good and the bad.