Pretty good summary of the Colgate battle

[Tom Earp]

Post-Standard
Syracuse, NY
December 7, 2005

Fraternity alumni lose ruling

By Sapna Kollali
Staff writer

A state Supreme Court judge has ruled that a group of fraternity alumni did
not have sufficient grounds to sue Colgate University.

Justice William O'Brien on Friday dismissed the suit filed in July by a
group of Phi Delta Theta alumni trying to reverse the sale of their Colgate
chapter house. The group sued after the full Phi Delt board decided not to
pursue legal action over the sale of its chapter house to the university.

Only a corporation's board of directors can file a suit on behalf of the
organization, O'Brien wrote in his decision.

University spokesman Charlie Melichar said the decision affirms Colgate's
actions and he hopes the issue is over.

"It's a nice confirmation that all along, we've acted fairly and clearly,"
he said. "We're in a bridge-building mode now, and it's great to have this
behind us."

The Phi Delt group's lawyer, Kevin Hulslander, could not be reached Tuesday.

O'Brien said there are a few strict circumstances in which a subgroup in
this case, 5 percent of the alumni membership, or about 75 members can sue.
Those instances include the board breaching its duties toward the full
membership or having conflicting interests that prevent it from making an
unbiased decision.

O'Brien said the fraternity alumni did not prove any of those circumstances
to be true. He likened the case to a "hostile takeover" in a corporate
setting.

"A corporate board may be forced to choose between selling to or merging
with an entity, not

by choice, but because that entity is in a position to exert such pressure
upon the board as to leave them no viable choice. . ." O'Brien wrote.
"While such tactics may seem 'unfair' or even coercive, the business
judgment rule insulates a board's decision in those circumstances from
judicial intervention. . . ."

Phi Delt's alumni board sold its chapter house to Colgate on May 31.
Colgate's new housing policy, begun in 2003, required all sororities and
fraternities to sell their houses to the university or lose recognition on
campus, beginning with the current semester. Melichar said the housing
policy has built "positive relationships" on campus and with alumni.

Colgate has said it is trying to strengthen the Greek system by bringing
the houses under university oversight and eliminate problems, including
underage drinking. Critics charge the housing policy is a way to eliminate
the entire Greek system.

Seven Greek-letter organizations sold their houses, and one inactive
fraternity donated its house. There are 10 recognized Greek chapters on
campus.

Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity did not sell its house and has filed two
suits, in federal court and state court. The federal suit, filed in March,
says Colgate violated First Amendment and antitrust laws; the state suit,
filed in November, seeks to reinstate DKE as a recognized student
organization on campus.

After the Phi Delt group filed its suit in July, an alumni group of the
Beta Theta Pi fraternity filed a nearly identical suit in October asking
the court to reverse the sale of its chapter house. No decision has been
made in that case.

Giving Credit where credit is due!

I find it interesting that the Court said that only a Corporation can file suit. It did not say that the group that sued was said House Corporation.