Fraternity ignoring offer of amnesty
By Christopher Marcisz
Eagle Correspondent
WILLIAMSTOWN -- Williams College officials say they have received no response to an offer of amnesty last month to members of an underground fraternity still believed to be active on campus nearly 40 years after the college began eliminating the Greek system locally.
Details about the group known as St. Anthony Hall, such as its size and activities, remain sketchy. Its presence on campus came to light this summer when an alumnus approached the college about gaining access to the group's ceremonial "goat room," which is in a college-owned building that now houses the Center for Development Economics.
'Join the fold'
In offering the amnesty, Dean Nancy Roseman said it was an invitation to the group to rejoin the campus community with certain conditions.
"That's the whole concept behind the amnesty," she said. "It is about saying to the organization: Join the fold."
The move would require the group to abandon some of its practices, including its secretive behavior, close links to a national organization and demands for exclusive use of its ceremonial room. So far there has been no response.
Speculation about the group had long been circulating, according to Roseman. Conversations among alumni about their college years, and concerns expressed by some students, have kept the issue on the radar screen.
Williams began the long process of rooting out fraternities in 1962 in an effort to create a more inclusive college environment and decrease on-campus drinking and hazing. The organizations were an entrenched part of campus life, with roughly 44 percent of students living in fraternity houses.
The college's policy on fraternities remains clear and has been reaffirmed through the years by the board of trustees.
"Williams students may neither join nor participate in fraternities during their time at the college," the college handbook reads. "The college will take disciplinary action against students who are found to be participating in such organizations. Penalties may include suspension or expulsion from the college."
The student newspaper, the Williams Record, reported in November that St. Anthony Hall, also known as Delta Psi, had been active underground since the 1970s. According to the paper, students have been meeting in a barn in Pownal, Vt.
St. Anthony Hall is a national organization founded in 1847, with nine active chapters across the nation. It bills itself as an "undergraduate literary society" rather than a fraternity. Unlike many fraternities, it admits women and claims its activities include literary gatherings.
Officials at the group's national office in Ithaca, N.Y., declined to comment.
Its Web site states, "We remain to this day a group of college students interested in the bonds of fraternity and sharing a common passion for the love of learning and the appreciation of a well-rounded education."
Last summer, John Shaw, a member of the class of 1962 and a former national chairman of the group, approached college officials about regaining access to the fraternity's ceremonial "goat room."
The room is in the basement of the fraternity's former house, now the Center for Development Economics at the corner of South Street and Route 2.
The Record quotes Shaw as writing in a 2002 St. Anthony Hall publication that he hopes his efforts will succeed.
"This effort will not be bloodless, and I anticipate opposition from a variety of quarters, but our flag will once again fly in Williamstown."
Some students have responded sharply to the acknowledgment of the group's presence, in weblogs and columns in the Record, urging more aggressive disciplinary action against a group that clearly violates college rules. But Roseman said the overall response to the offer has been muted.
Roseman said exposing and punishing the members would be a difficult process. "I don't know where to begin," she said. "I don't know any members."
She added that official pressure "would drive it deeper underground."
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