After hours of testimony and deliberations, the College decided yesterday to suspend indefinitely its recognition of Phi Delta Alpha fraternity on charges of violations of College and Coed Fraternity Sorority Council regulations.
The fraternity is derecognized until at least the fall of 2002, although members may still live in the house through Spring term.
The allegations leading to Phi Delt's derecognition came from two separate cases brought against the house.
First, the College received information in October of 1999 from a former brother accusing the house of allowing members of the Class of 2000 to rush during their first year at the College, serving alcohol to underage students, tolerating drug use, providing false information to the College and using techniques of peer pressure and coercion during pledge period.
In the second case, Phi Delt was charged with failing to take action when four of its members broke into Chi Gamma Epsilon fraternity this past December, igniting curtains with citronella oil on a table and stealing a small refrigerator from the house.
But according to Phi Delt President Matt K. Nelson '00, the derecognition verdict is not warranted "in the least," and he said, "We are definitely going to appeal the decision."
Letter of Allegation
According to Nelson, a former brother in the Class of 2000 sent a letter to the College this past fall, which resulted in the first case against Phi Delt. While Nelson declined to give the student's name, he said the student has not been on campus since his sophomore fall when he had a serious car accident driving back to Hanover from a concert in Burlington, Vt. -- a description that exactly matches the experience of Adam Dansiger '00.
The student alleged that the accident and Phi Delt were somehow related, Nelson explained.
Redman said after the College received the letter, it looked through its old records and had conversations with the person who provided the information to see if there was substantiation for any of the allegations.
Based on the findings, Redman met with Nelson and other members of the Class of 2000, who were members of the house when the alleged incidents took place, in the beginning of January.
Redman said the January discussion coupled with information from the student who initiated the investigation were grounds for a hearing.
"That's what we started dealing with," Redman said.
Chi Gam in the mix
Redman said the situation became more complex when the circumstances of the Chi Gam fire incident, which occurred early morning Dec. 9 started to unfold when students arrived back on campus for Winter term.
He said when information about the alleged arson and breaking and entering incident began to go public, he talked to Nelson again, and determined that another hearing should be held to discuss the case.
The hearing
Hearings for both cases against Phi Delt were heard by the Judicial Committee, which is chaired by CFS Chair Benita Perch '01 on Feb. 21. Since it was a tier two hearing, the CFS representatives act in an advisory role, with Redman making the final decision.
The case was determined to be tier two because of the potential implications of the charges that had been brought against the house, Redman said, noting that four or five years ago when a house had engaged in "dirty rush" -- allowing in new members during their freshman year, despite the College policy forbidding the action -- it was suspended. He also noted that hazing is a very serious charge in the eyes of the College.
Going into the hearing, there were also allegations that the house was dealing heavily in drugs, acting as an effective "drug lord" of Hanover -- a charge that was later expelled.
During the hearing, the committee heard testimony from three students -- all of them juniors and seniors, plus Nelson, who presented witnesses and asked questions.
Starting with the letter
Redman said the brothers who testified during the hearing "didn't attempt to hide anything."
He said one of the most troubling parts of the hearing dealt with the alleged hazing that went on during the 1997 pledge period.
According to Standard I of the Dartmouth Community Standards of Conduct, "Students and student organizations must not engage in behavior which causes or threatens physical harm to another person or which would reasonably expected to cause physical harm to another person."
Since hazing is against College policy and New Hampshire state law, Redman said the fact that Phi Delt "used methods of coercion and harassment as part of the peer relationship to continue membership" was a serious problem.
"Because of the structure, tradition and the way it worked, if they didn't do it, they felt they would be perceived to be less of a member, or worse, not allowed to be a member," Redman said.
He compared pressure to live up to the expectations of older brothers to the pressure for boy scouts to earn their badges and asked, "How do they think they'll be perceived by the group? Will they get their merit badge or not?"
Although the house was not found guilty of hazing, Redman said, "Quite honestly, in most of the country, the activities that took place that we were told about" would classify as hazing.
Instead, the house was found guilty of violating Standard II of the Standards of Conduct, which entails "Harassment" or abusive behavior that is targeted at an individual or group and repeated.
The house was also charged, and found guilty of tolerating the use of illegal drugs, including marijuana, pills and mushrooms, and serving alcohol regularly to minors.
Redman also said the house violated College policy by allowing members of the Class of 2000 to pledge during their first year. Not only this, but the new members falsified College documents by asserting on their pledge cards that they actually became members in the fall of their sophomore years.
After hearing the testimony for this section of the hearing, Redman said the house was already at the suspension level.
"The big issue then was how long," he said.
Enter the fire
Redman explained that four Phi Delt brothers, who were drinking and intoxicated, decided to go out to Webster Avenue to see if there were other people to "party with."
According to Redman, when the four students arrived at Chi Gam, the house was locked, the lights were out and there was no sign of activity. However, the brothers entered the house through the window.
Redman said "the minute they entered the building" the innocent jaunt down Webster Avenue changed into a fraternity prank that culminated in the theft of a refrigerator and the lighting of a fire which caused serious damage to the house and endangered the sleeping people upstairs.
After the fire alarm went off, the brothers panicked and returned to their house, where they and other house members decided to shut off the lights, lock the doors and ignore any policemen who came knocking, according to Redman.
"What we heard is there is a tradition of issues surrounding fire, Phi Delt and Chi Gam," Redman said.
He explained that at first, he was not sure the Chi Gam incident was related to the house as a whole, or whether it was an isolated action that happened to be perpetrated by four brothers.
But he said, "the tradition and lore of the [Phi Delt] culture supported these boys doing this."
The why
"We need to break the cycle of that culture," Redman said. "We want the organization to come back on the best foot."
That was his thinking when he decided to suspend the house at least until the fall of 2002, when it will be able to reapply for College recognition.
In the fall 2002, none of the students who are currently members of Phi Delt will be left on campus.
"They're good people," Redman said of the Phi Delt brothers with whom he has had dealings. "But for one reason or another, they made some pretty big mistakes."
He said the fact that the house hid the 1997 events from the College and the CFSC for three years indicates a perpetuation of some unhealthy traditions that must stop.
What comes next
"The shock is still setting in," an noticeably shaken Nelson said. "It really wasn't expected."
He said he is in close contact with the house corporation and the house adviser, and together, they are devising a game plan. The house must make a formal appeal within seven days if they plan to do so.
He said for the first four weeks of the Winter term, Redman and Assistant Dean of Residential Life Deb Carney had assured him that the College was looking at the 1997 incidents and the Chi Gam incident as separate issues.
He said that although his house was "given the fair chance to be a part of the process," it seems that College had actually considered the cases as one unit -- he said the fact that there is one decision letter instead of two emphasizes this point.
However, Redman said the decisions were separate ones. The house would have been derecognized for a period of time without the Chi Gam incident, but with it, the length of derecognition was simply extended.
Redman explained that under the current College guidelines, he would have to reconsider any appeal -- for clemency or raising new facts.
But he said, "Given the amount of time I spent thinking about this and agonizing over the decision, I can't imagine that in good conscience I would change my decision."
He said he has recommended to Dean of the College James Larimore that someone else hear any possible appeal from Phi Delt.
The physical plant is still under the ownership of the fraternity corporation, which now needs to decide what to do with the house.
After June 12, "that facility is no longer approved for College students to live in" Redman said, adding he hopes the corporation will work with the College on a plan for the house's future.
He said he does not expect acts of destruction to the house that accompanied the 1996 Beta Theta Pi derecognition prompted.
"There are no plans for any such things," Nelson said. "That is not going to happen."
