Psi Upsilon fraternity will appeal the College sanctions filed against the house for the sexist and racist remarks shouted from its porch, a move that comes a day after Psi U learned that it now faces a six month ban on serving alcohol.
Psi U has five days to notify the Office of Residential Life, which imposed the sanctions, of its appeal. A decision will then be released about a week later.
ORL said the sanctions were necessary to send the message that derogatory behavior will not be tolerated and to be fair to the victim of the remarks.
The announcement of the sanctions drew immediate criticism from members of Psi U and the Greek Judicial Council -- which had previously proposed a less severe penalty for the remarks. They charged that ORL did not sufficiently consider internal discipline taken by the fraternity against members involved in the incident. Psi U has not said what that discipline was.
The likelihood of the success of the Psi U appeal is uncertain. The fraternity can appeal on the basis of procedural faults, new information and clemency. Because no one involved in the process has complained of unfair procedure, and no one who spoke to The Dartmouth knew of any new information related to the case, clemency seems the most likely basis of the appeal. But it is also the most risky approach.
And underlying ORL's sanctions is the conclusion that sexist and racist remarks amount to an organizational, as opposed to individual, problem -- a finding also reached by the JC. That may mean that ORL doesn't consider the internal sanctions imposed by Psi U against the offending members to be enough.
Explaining his decision to appeal the sanctions, Psi U president Mike Holick '02 said: "We found we have been dealt an unfair hand with regard to the social sanctions levied against us. The social sanctions do not seem to be applicable as we were not found guilty of breaking the College's social event policies."
But Dean of Residential Life Martin Redman said there is precedent for alcohol bans against Greek organizations for non-alcohol related offenses.
"What people are used to is 'OK, you screwed up a party issue. So you have a party penalty,'" he said. "I think the question is a philosophic one against sanctions. Is it an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth?" Not necessarily, Redman explained.
"I have no way of knowing what the outcome [of the appeal will be]. I have no way of knowing what they're going to say. It will be received seriously," Redman added.
After a JC meeting on March 8, Psi U was deemed to have violated a number of conduct standards, including those related to harassment and coercion, as well as College standards of leadership, behavior and recognition. The JC recommended that the fraternity host educational programming and revamp its new member initiation procedures.
"The educational sanctions didn't seem to address the issues of harassment and victimization," Redman said. "Hosting an event at which alcohol is present is a privilege, not a right."
The sanctions against Psi U stem from an incident that took place in February when students standing on the Psi U lawn were reported by a female student to be chanting "Wa-hoo-wah, scalp 'em, scalp 'em" as she approached the house from Thayer Dining Hall.
As the female student, who has remained anonymous, passed the house, the Psi U men began shouting, "Wah-hoo-wah, scalp those bitches."
Although the fraternity quickly offered a public apology for the incident once it became public, it drew a storm of criticism from students, Greek leaders, and administrators, including Dean of the College James Larimore.