Psi Upsilon fraternity yesterday appealed College's decision to place the house on probation for violations of College rules during this winter's keg jump, on grounds of new information and clemency.
In the appeal letter, Dan Mahoney '01, president of Psi U, stated that he will gather previously unheard oral and written statements from students and alumni who were present during the 19th annual keg jump on Feb. 12 during Winter Carnival.
Moreover, he stated that he felt clemency should be granted because of Psi U's endeavors to ensure the safety and security of the Dartmouth community, the decision of Psi U to not serve alcohol at its event, the way the College gave no warning about its concerns prior to the event and the overall support of the College community for the annual tradition of the keg jump.
"My biggest concern is that we were really blindsided by this whole thing," Mahoney said. "The first indication that we did anything wrong was after the event."
Mahoney expects the testimony of his witnesses to mirror his own to the Judicial Committee, which "categorically denied" all the charges.
"I'm pretty optimistic because I think we made a good case," he added.
Dean of Residential Life Martin Redman, who will now handle the appeal, said he will consider the safety of participants when making his decision, which includes ensuring the sobriety of the skaters.
Redman compared the keg jump to the tradition of the bonfire, which is also "fraught with risk," saying both should continually try to better protect the safety of participants.
On a personal level, Redman said he would like to see Psi U replace kegs with some other object, but added that the negative connotation of kegs did not make the event "bad."
"Kegs connote beer, beer connotes party, and party connotes drinking," he said.
Redman did not comment on the facts of the appeal because he has not received any information pertaining to it yet.
Daniel Granik '01, the acting chair of the Coed Fraternity Sorority Council Judiciary Committee, could not comment on the discussion which preceded its recommendation to place Psi U on probation, but did say that "we feel [the probation] was the best course of action for the matter before us," adding that there was no dispute in the committee.
Psi U, which conducted its annual keg jump during Winter Carnival last term, was placed on a six week probation by the College for alleged violations of the College's Community Standards of Conduct and the Student Alcohol policy last week. The violations include serving alcohol to underage and intoxicated persons and creating an unsafe environment for College members.
