Important Question

[L.O.C.K.]

Hey all,
I have a question regarding schools having expansion bans in place for Greek orgs.

Is this process even legal? Like, if a group of guys wanted to start a chapter but an expansion ban was in place, couldn't they argue freedom of association and that it is infringing upon their rights as citizens/students?

My rationale for this is that a couple of years ago the university tried to prevent the NAACP from coming onto campus because it was part of a national organization, but they lost the battle b/c of Freedom of Association.

Any thoughts would be welcome!!

Thanks,
Nate

[SigmaPezY60]

usually schools put a ban on expansion for awhile because they want to improve the existing organizations first. They may want to bring numbers up on campus, or make sure that all of the organizations are on good standing. Also most campus do not allow locals to expand to their campus....for liability issues that Locals bring (aka no insurance).

[33girl]

They can put a ban on new Greek orgs being recognized by campus...however, unless it's a private college, the students (if they are supported by a national, or even if they're not) are more than free to form a new Greek org and meet off campus and not use campus facilities.

It's a WHOLE different ball game than not recognizing the NAACP...when I read that, I literally said "WHOA" out loud. Where the heck do you go to school??

[L.O.C.K.]

Don't quote me, but I think it happened with the establishment of an NAACP chapter here at GW about 10-15 years ago.

My question is...if they don't have any Asian interest fraternities or sororities on campus and they want to put a hold on expansion, that clearly shows that it's not fair? Because there is no other option for interested members.

I did a little research...

From the AFA website, http://www.fraternityadvisors.org/Re...sociation.aspx

[Adopted October 2003]
[Replacing AFA Resolution on Expansion Within the Fraternity/Sorority Community 1999]

Whereas, colleges and universities have an opportunity to provide a positive and impactful learning environment for their students; and

Whereas, fraternities and sororities on these campuses can influence the overall satisfaction and retention of their members through meaningful experiences; and

Whereas, the American freedom to associate is guaranteed by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution; and

Whereas, this freedom is reaffirmed in exemptions from Title IX by the Education Amendments of 1972 as it applies to fraternal organizations; therefore

Resolved, that the Association of Fraternity Advisors supports the right of students to freely associate with or assemble into fraternities and sororities; and

Be it further resolved, that the Association of Fraternity Advisors also supports the right of colleges and universities to establish reasonable procedures for the official recognition of and provision of services to their student organizations.

Law Website, http://www.law.cornell.edu/anncon/se...rag8_user.html



Like, if AFA says it, it basically sets the tone for fraternal orgs.

[PsychTau2]

Originally Posted by L.O.C.K.

From the AFA website, http://www.fraternityadvisors.org/Re...sociation.aspx

[Adopted October 2003]
[Replacing AFA Resolution on Expansion Within the Fraternity/Sorority Community 1999]

Whereas, colleges and universities have an opportunity to provide a positive and impactful learning environment for their students; and

Whereas, fraternities and sororities on these campuses can influence the overall satisfaction and retention of their members through meaningful experiences; and

Whereas, the American freedom to associate is guaranteed by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution; and

Whereas, this freedom is reaffirmed in exemptions from Title IX by the Education Amendments of 1972 as it applies to fraternal organizations; therefore

Resolved, that the Association of Fraternity Advisors supports the right of students to freely associate with or assemble into fraternities and sororities; and

Be it further resolved, that the Association of Fraternity Advisors also supports the right of colleges and universities to establish reasonable procedures for the official recognition of and provision of services to their student organizations.

Law Website, http://www.law.cornell.edu/anncon/se...rag8_user.html



Like, if AFA says it, it basically sets the tone for fraternal orgs.

That AFA resolution is not binding on any campus or fraternal organization. AFA is a professional association, and has no governance over anyone but itself. So, they can suggest and resolve, but not force and require.

Judge Mitch Crane has an excellent answer to this question...we've discussed it before. I can't explain it nearly as well as he can, but the basic premise is that "Freedom of Association" from the constitution doesn't automatically protect social-based organizations just because we're social organizations (meaning, those organizations that aren't formed specifically to further a cause, like NAACP...I think. That's the part I'm not so great at explaining). A public university can enact a ban against not recognizing any fraternal organizations, but they cannot say "We won't recognize Sigma Phi Epsilon but we will recognize Sigma Chi" just because they don't like SigEp as an organization. They CAN say that if that organization has disciplinary issues...they CANNOT say that just because they "don't like" the org or the members.

Of course, if the public university doesn't have a good, solid reason for a ban, then that opens the door for an org to "push" their way onto a campus, but that might not be the most positive way to do it. Private universities have a lot more control over stuff like that.

He (and probably others) can explain it better than I can. His website is http://www.judgemitch.com...you might be able to email him the question and see if he'll answer it.

I think there's a small trend going on now where schools are choosing to control their expansion and will actually have a plan where they will add chapters every X number of years, and are already choosing which organizations will expand in what year.

PsychTau

[jaade124]

Originally Posted by PsychTau2

I think there's a small trend going on now where schools are choosing to control their expansion and will actually have a plan where they will add chapters every X number of years, and are already choosing which organizations will expand in what year.
PsychTau

Yes my school is one of those schools. Its harder to expand on smaller campuses where greek life is not doing so well. Our enrollment for recruitment (as far as sororities go) has gone down more and more with each semester. People are just not as interested and because of that the sororities already established are suffering. Therefore, my school (which is private) has chosen to not allow any further expansion in order for the sororites already there to grow and try and reach total. However, what happens if a local wants to go national? Is that the same as expansion? There's been a rumor that one local is going national and that has the other sororities worried because that usually takes girls away from the rest of us (because of the allure of being a founding sister, not going through recruitment, etc. etc.). Any thoughts?

[ladygreek]

Originally Posted by L.O.C.K.

Hey all,
I have a question regarding schools having expansion bans in place for Greek orgs.

Is this process even legal? Like, if a group of guys wanted to start a chapter but an expansion ban was in place, couldn't they argue freedom of association and that it is infringing upon their rights as citizens/students?

My rationale for this is that a couple of years ago the university tried to prevent the NAACP from coming onto campus because it was part of a national organization, but they lost the battle b/c of Freedom of Association.

Any thoughts would be welcome!!

Thanks,
Nate

When we chartered the Delta chapter at my undergraduate school there was a ban on new BGLOS establishing (AKAs, Kappas, and Alphas were recognized.) They couched it in terms of not allowing anymore GLOs period, but there were no other GLOs trying to get on campus at the time. However, because our validity comes from our national HQ we were able to form the chapter and just not be recognized by the school. Essentially all this meant was that we couldn't get a house on greek row and we couldn't use the facilities as a student organization. It also meant we didn't have to pay student organization fees.

Ironically, our national president at the time was the first Black Civil Rights Commissioner and the school's pan-hell brought her to campus to speak. When she realized that we were not recognized on campus, she wanted to know why. After she had conversations with school officials, we plus the Omegas, Sigmas, SGRhos and Zetas became recognized.

[L.O.C.K.]

hahahaha, awesome!

Yea, like it baffles me as to why they'd have a "school-wide ban" which clearly hurts communities that aren't represented much more.

I mean, there are no Asian Fraternities on campus, haha, who are they protecting??