Great Precedent!!

[Firehouse]

On April 14 the First District Court of Appeal in Florida ruled that the University of Florida must reinstate Pi Kappa Alpha because of eggregious abuse of the hearing process and procedural violations by the Dean of Students and the "assistant vice president of student affairs".
See here: 07-2596.pdf‎(13KB)‎

Bottom line is that the 1st DCA tells UF that student judicial hearings must give the defendant the right to question witnesses during the hearing. The use of hearsay testimony prevented the ability to question the witnesses about the truth of the facts asserted.

This is a judicial rebuff of the typlical arrogance and bullying tactics my mid-level university administrators. I hope the chapter alumni go after the Dean and assistant vp personally to recover damages if that's possible.

[fantASTic]

..Want to tell us what happened?

[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.

[SWTXBelle]

Wait - they DRANK AT A FOOTBALL GAME??? The horror - the horror . ..

[magichat]

phi phi.

[Tom Earp]

LXA was also taken off campus for things that they should not have been doing.

The school told LXA HQ that if we wanted a chance to ever come back, take the charter.

It seems to have a very large Greek community, but with some of the goings on, I wonder how pro Greek they are?

[Firehouse]

Tom, I think the problem is that every infraction brings the death penalty. There's no in-between. We used to do bad things and get social probation. Today, fraternities are tossed off for five years wihtout any thought given to the boys who did nothing wrong. It's an arrogant, lazy, prejudiced method of dealing with young men in fraternities.


The bullying got so overbearing during the 1990s that Congres passed the Freedom of Association Act in 1996.
Today, these little mid-level deans will toss a chapter off campus and tell the nationals, "If you ever want to come back, then make sure none of these men associate with each other anymore."

It's long past time when the good guys should refuse to be bullied by people who think they can do anything to anyone as long as it's an undergraduate. Get lawyers; make them follow their own rules. If it sounds like I'm testy, I have reason to be.

[PhiGam]

ATO sent a kid to the hospital.
Sig Ep TORTURED that pledge class. They were shoved into a flooded crawlspace underneath a house and covered them in urine and feces. The fact that they are allowed to come back on is a joke and hurts my chapter (we want to buy their lot).

[BabyPiNK_FL]

i am not choosing sides, but i do wonder if the university isn't so much biased, but maybe they're tired of throwing money into investigations and such. maybe they don't want to deal with it and are throwing people out in an effort to to discourage these actions, set an example and to save a dollar?

oh and i agree-sigep shouldn't be allowed at all...

[Firehouse]

PhiGam and BabyPink...I don't know what Sig Eps' status is; I was hoping you would know. Even though the evidence was thrown out, I doubt that Sig Ep national will allow them to return soon. PhiGam you may yet get your wish. I think you're in a great situation now; I admire your ambition to build a new house. All the best of luck to you and your chapter. PhiGams have always been good guys.

As for ATO, I read all the fraternity and University documents surrounding the case (They posted everything on their website). The University charged individuals with hazing, and they were found not guilty. I don't undertand how they can boot the fraternity if the individual "hazers" were not guilty.


I do agree that hazing should be outlawed. I was hazed and I hazed. It didn't help our chapter in any way. We don't do it now (haven't since we recolonized in 2000), but it could rise up any time if we're not vigilant.

[bowsandtoes]

You want to have a chapter thrown off campus so that you can buy their house? in addition to throwing hazing allegations around on the internet?

Real nice, way to keep Florida classy.

[33girl]

Originally Posted by bowsandtoes

You want to have a chapter thrown off campus so that you can buy their house? in addition to throwing hazing allegations around on the internet?

Real nice, way to keep Florida classy.

Yeah, I have to agree. That's kinda bad karma. If they do need to be disciplined that's one thing, but if you just want them kicked off because you want their lot...not cool.

[Tom Earp]

Originally Posted by Firehouse

Tom, I think the problem is that every infraction brings the death penalty. There's no in-between. We used to do bad things and get social probation. Today, fraternities are tossed off for five years wihtout any thought given to the boys who did nothing wrong. It's an arrogant, lazy, prejudiced method of dealing with young men in fraternities.


The bullying got so overbearing during the 1990s that Congres passed the Freedom of Association Act in 1996.
Today, these little mid-level deans will toss a chapter off campus and tell the nationals, "If you ever want to come back, then make sure none of these men associate with each other anymore."

It's long past time when the good guys should refuse to be bullied by people who think they can do anything to anyone as long as it's an undergraduate. Get lawyers; make them follow their own rules. If it sounds like I'm testy, I have reason to be.

Firehouse, not at all as it seems a lot depends on the infractions and how the School Adm. feels at the moment.


But on the other sied of the coin as you stated things were done that whould have been taken care of earlier and weren't.

Now, the knee jerk reaction is to come down overly hard on those who do not get the idea of any wrong doings.

But, there is at least a precident that has been set in place but a true court of law.

I am sure that it may be the shot heard around the Greek Community. Time will tell of course.