Michigan fraternity sued over nonbinary and female members

[ASTalumna06]

https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/..._headlines_hed

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- A fraternity at the University of Michigan is being sued by its national organization after accepting women as members.

A federal judge is holding a hearing Thursday about whether to ease an Oct. 23 order that bars Michigan Sigma Phi from using the national fraternity's name and Greek letters.

Since 2016, Michigan Sigma Phi has accepted dozens of members who aren't men or who are nonbinary, a gender identity that is not strictly male or female, said Stephanie Stoneback, a graduate who was president in 2017-18.

"It did feel sort of like we were pioneering something,” Stoneback told The Detroit News. “But honestly, it really just felt like I was joining a group of friends.”

Sigma Phi Society, the New York-based national organization, said membership decisions in Ann Arbor are harming the group and its trademarks, according to its lawsuit in federal court in Detroit.

[FSUZeta]

They can pledge whom they want it they start their own fraternity; if you are part of a national org with national by-laws, follow the by-laws.

[naraht]

For some reason, this seems to be something that Sigma Phi has a lot of problems with. They only have something like 9 active chapters out of 20 charters (I think they are one of the smallest in the NIC), but 3 or 4 of the chapters at one point or another have had an effort to admit those who aren't men according to Wikipedia.

[honeychile]

Originally Posted by FSUZeta

They can pledge whom they want it they start their own fraternity; if you are part of a national org with national by-laws, follow the by-laws.

This. It really shouldn't be so hard to understand.

[Cheerio]

Originally Posted by FSUZeta

They can pledge whom they want it they start their own fraternity; if you are part of a national org with national by-laws, follow the by-laws.

Originally Posted by honeychile

This. It really shouldn't be so hard to understand.

If they were to start their own fraternity they might consider naming it Mu Theta, since a counterclockwise turn of each letter still reads Sigma Phi.

[Sciencewoman]

A couple guys I graduated from high school with are Michigan Sigma Phi alums.

There was a dead body found in the house a few years ago...if memory serves, it was a squatter who was living there over the summer when the house was closed and his body was found at some point. It wasn't a brother. Now I have to Google that....

[Kevin]

There are Sigma Nu chapters who have been pledging folks so long as they identify as men. HQ has kind of left it to chapters' discretion.