Thursday, March 10, 2005
Update:
U.S. District Court Judge Gary L. Sharpe today (March 10) denied
requests from Delta Kappa Epsilon (DKE) for a temporary restraining
order and preliminary injunction that would have blocked Colgate
University from requiring, among other conditions, that Colgate own
the DKE house before students could reside there and be recognized as
a fraternity beginning fall of 2005.
After hearing arguments from attorneys from DKE and Colgate, Sharpe
ruled that DKE failed to show a likelihood of success on any of the
claims contained in the complaint filed against the university two
weeks ago.
Read the court decision here (PDF file).
<
http://offices.colgate.edu/communica...rtdecision.pdf>
Story posted March 3, 2005:
Colgate University spokesman James Leach said today that university
attorneys believe that a complaint filed by Delta Kappa Epsilon on
Monday (Feb. 28) in the United States District Court for the Northern
District of New York is without merit. Leach said that Colgate
intends to defend its position vigorously.
Five years ago, this same court dismissed a remarkably similar
complaint that a DKE chapter had filed against Hamilton College
arising from changes in Hamilton's residential education program.
A comprehensive plan adopted by Colgate's Board of Trustees in spring
2003 found that fraternities and sororities could be better
integrated with the university's mission if the university owned and
supported the Greek-letter houses in the same way it supports other
student residences.
The plan incorporates many areas of student life outside the
classroom, offering a choice of living options where students are
expected to build self-governing communities that support the
educational goals and mission of the university. For the past year,
Colgate has been negotiating to purchase the fraternity and sorority
houses from the alumni corporations that own the properties.
Alumni leaders of eight of Colgate's fraternities and sororities have
agreed to terms that would provide for the sale or gift of their
houses to the university, subject to confirmation by the members of
the individual alumni corporations that own the properties.
John Golden, chair of Colgate's Board of Trustees, said: "We are
encouraged by the constructive approach that most of the Greek-letter
alumni leaders have taken during this process. We are committed to
working with the Greek-letter organizations to bring about positive
changes that will benefit current and future generations of Colgate
students who choose to join fraternities and sororities."
The fraternities and sororities whose leaders have agreed to sell
their houses, subject to confirmation by their members, are Beta
Theta Pi, Delta Upsilon, Gamma Phi Beta, Kappa Alpha Theta, Phi Delta
Theta, Sigma Chi, and Theta Chi. Phi Gamma Delta, which has not had
an active undergraduate chapter at Colgate since 1989, plans to
donate its fraternity house to the university.
Leach said that Colgate officials were surprised and disappointed
that DKE had filed court action, noting that as late as Friday
afternoon (Feb. 25) the university had been engaged in discussions
with DKE representatives and appeared close to reaching an agreement
on terms equivalent to those reached with the other houses. Colgate
learned of the possibility of the DKE legal action Friday evening,
when an electronic news release emailed from a Colorado-based public
relations consultant announced that the complaint had been filed with
the court.
Greek-letter organizations that are in good standing and that
complete the sale of their properties will be allowed to house
students in fall 2005 as they always have. Colgate anticipates that
10 fraternities and sororities will be recognized on campus in fall
2005.
Beginning in fall 2005, all students must live in university-owned
housing (with the exception of approximately 250 students who are
traditionally granted permission to live off campus). Fraternities
that have chosen to retain ownership of their properties will not be
allowed to house students next fall, and the university will withdraw
recognition of their undergraduate chapters in summer 2005.