Administrators yesterday rejected the Psi Upsilon appeal of sanctions imposed against the fraternity following an incident Winter term in which members of the house yelled allegedly racist and sexist remarks at a female passerby.
After considering the Psi U appeal for nearly two weeks, Dean of Residential Life Martin Redman sent a letter to the fraternity indicating that he felt the sanctions were appropriate as initially handed out.
"In my mind, it fits," Redman said. "My bottom line is the men involved that evening created a victim of another student."
Psi U President Michael Holick '02 said he was displeased with the Redman's rejection.
"I'm fairly disappointed that [Redman] felt the need to continue to punish us in an overly severe manner for the actions of a few," Holick said. "While I understand his logic, I do not agree that making an example of Psi U is the way to go about handling this problem within the Greek system."
Psi U based their appeal on a request for clemency. Appeals can also be made based on new information pertaining to the case or alleged procedural errors.
The main point of contention in the sanctions were two terms of social probation, during which alcohol will be banned from parties and all public spaces in the Psi U physical plant.
"[The fraternity members involved] took away -- not a privilege -- a right. [Therefore,] I took away a privilege," Redman said. "I think the woman lost more than the men did."
The Student Assembly passed a resolution last week calling the punishment, "misguided." Both the president and the vice-president of the Coed Fraternity Sorority Council have also publicly disagreed with the punishment.
"I think a lot of people were opposed to what Psi U did, but I think the decision that Redman made alienated even those people," Assembly President Jorge Miranda '01 said.
In its resolution, approved by a 25-10 margin, the Assembly stated that "sentencing should be commensurate with the violation," implying that two terms of social probation was too harsh a penalty.
Miranda '01 said he is unsatisfied with the administration's reaction to the resolution given that the Assembly has received no response from Redman or his office.
"I don't mind hearing no," Miranda said. "What bothers me more is wanting to hear exactly why."
Redman said he was surprised the Assembly involved itself in the Psi U affair, but welcomed the group's input in voicing the opinion that the sanctions needed reconsideration. Redman said he considered the resolution along with other feedback he received.
He noted, however, he felt aspects of the resolution that "sounded more like judicial review" were not an appropriate role for the Assembly.
Holick said he believes the amount of attention the shouting incident received played a part in the ORL decision, suggesting that the manner in which "many people" handled the incident was not conducive to dealing with the underlying problems.
"Before anybody had any chance to respond, everybody's minds were already made up, so it didn't really matter what I or any of the members had to say," he said.
The disciplinary action now finalized is the result of an incident that took place on the evening of Friday, Feb. 16. A female student reported that fraternity members on the Psi U lawn were chanting: "Wah-hoo-wah, scalp 'em, scalp 'em," and "Wah-hoo-wah, scalp those bitches" as she approached Thayer Dining Hall.
After a hearing in early March, the CFSC Judicial Committee found Psi U guilty of violating Standards of Conduct relating to harassment and College standards of behavior and leadership.
While the Judicial Committee recommended a number of programming sanctions -- such as requiring Psi U to sponsor a presentation entitled, "Confronting the Idiot in Your Chapter" -- the group did not recommend social probation in their report.
"The educational sanctions didn't seem to address the issues of harassment or victimization," Redman said previously, explaining why two terms of "full social restrictions" were included in among the penalties imposed.
