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Hear! Hear! Kudos to you, Hoosier.
Fraternities and Sororities are valuable alumni tools to any university, and there is no reason why Greeks and Administratiors can't get along. But, for far too long now self-righteous little mid-level functionaries have felt that they have the power to do virtually ANYTHING that pleases them to Greek organizations. Every time the Greeks fight back, they win. See Fraternal Law newsletter for specific cases.
Yes, we have to behave and, yes, we have a moral obligation to influence our members in a positive way and, no, we are not going to succeed by picking fights with the school just for the thrill of battle. But, too often undergraduates do not understand and are not told of their rights.
I think it would be an excellent idea for the fraternity system at a given university to retain counsel as a way of routinely dealing with hostile administrators and situations. We used to joke about it: the 50-ish dean sits at a table, having to undergo the fear of actually facing an adult for a change. The adult lawyer says something like, "You know, when I was in school twenty years ago I thought everyone in your office was a pompous ass and no one there was concerned about treating my chapter fairly. Of course, that doesn't have anything to do with the issue before us today, but just know that I am representing the fraternities in this matter and under no circumstances are you to contact any of their officers or leaders directly. Anything you have to say on this issue will be said to me. Now, what was it you had in mind?"
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