[Firehouse]

Not sure I can do it justice. I'm a Pike but it's not my chapter. However, I am friends with their lawyer who is a University of Florida Pike alum.
We've had some similar things happen here at FSU in the last few years. The FSU administration is generally pro-Greek, but there are some arrogant little mid-level administrators who just like to weild power over undergraduates.

We've lost two very large fraternities recently here at Florida State under similar circumstances.
Alpha Tau Omega was a 150-man chapter gretting ready to break ground on a new house. The chapter and specific individuals were accused of hazing. Even though the individuals involved were found not guilty of violations of the student conduct code, the chapter was kicked off campus until 2009. In their written appeal, the ATO alumni pointed out the fact that no individuals were found guilty of any violation, and asked the university to work with the alumni in light of the fact that they had a $1 million already invested in the property. They also pointed out the unfairness of penalizing 150 young men for the actions of a few...who were in fact not guilty. The arrogant response was to the effect that "I cannot be concerned about your finances"...and "It will be a learning experience for the members." The ATO alumni elected not to sue, and to wait out their sentence, to return in 2009.
A year or so ago, four Sig Ep brothers took some 30 pledges out to a house in town to haze them. Police found all 30 under the house in t-shirts covered with who-knows-what. All the chapter offciers had been away from town at some IFC-mandated retreat so the idiots were left in charge. Sig Ep (another 150-man chapter) was kicked off for hazing. Sig Ep alumni appealed to the courts to throw out all evidence of wrong-doing and were successful! All evidence in the case was thrown out and the court admonished the campus police (it's a long story). I don't know what the result will be - and the Sig Eps were definitely guilty of hazing - but the Sig Ep alumni stod up against what they felt was an unreasonable punishment. They had already broken ground on a new $4 million house, and were willing to work wth the existing chapter to ensure that no more hazing took place.

I'll do the best I can to recount the Pike case at the University of Florida. I do have some written information from the Florida Pike alumni newsletter.
Like all the big fraternities at Florida, the Pikes are an old and well established chapter, over 100 years old with powerful alumni. They have an honorable history but the chapter has been in and out of trouble for about 10 years. In April, 2007, the university suspended recognition of Pike through the spring semester of 2011, "based on alcohol policy violations at a football game in october, 2006."
From their report to their alumni: "It is important for everyone to know that charges against the chapter were for 1) violation of alcohol policies; 2) reckless endangerment by violating he alcohol policy; and 3) hazing for asking the pledges to tend bar." The chapter was found guilty of #1 and #2, and not guilty of #3.
The alumni report said, "The House Corporation...would support the university in this situation if the hearing process had been fair and the punishment had been reasonable. Unfortunately the hearing process was not fair and the punishment was not reasonable."

There's a lot more and I don't have time to recount it. At the party/social in question, "newspapers reported that three young women might have been drugged or raped that night. Police investiagtion proved that neither of these horrendous offenses took place. Unfortunately, the exoneration of the chapter and its members from these allegations did not make the front page and were barely reported at all."

This is important: "Essentially, the chapter is being punished as if the allegations for which they have been exonerated had been true...This is the most severe penalty ever issued against any Florida fraternity for any reason."

The chapter owns prime real esate directly across from the football stadium and the University would liketo have it for their expansion plans. Alumni believe this entered into the university's decisions inthe case. Negotiations between the alumni and the school about the penalties levied against the chapter were unsuccessful. Not permitted to rush, the chapter dwindled from 150+ men to about 30.

Arguments were heard in the First District Court in March. On April 14, the Court ruled in Pike's favor. In a terse statement, they admonished the University for violating their own procedures and the rights ofthe fraternity, and ordered the reinstatement of Pi Kappa Alpha. That's where we are today.