In what was a final bid to extend its lifeline, Zeta Psi fraternity lost an appeal to overturn the College's permanent derecognition of the organization. The fraternity will no longer exist on campus.
"I believe the decision is still the correct one," said Dean of Residential Life Martin Redman, who had the last word over the original derecognition case Spring term and the fraternity's subsequent appeal.
Redman informed College administrators of his most recent decision Friday morning, after spending over two months reviewing documents provided by members of the now-defunct Zeta Psi fraternity.
The College announced its initial decision to derecognize the house on May 10, following the discovery of internal house newsletters containing detailed accounts of members' supposed sexual exploits.
The decision followed an administrative hearing on whether or not the fraternity had, through its newsletters, violated College codes of conduct.
Redman, who had presided over the hearing, decided that Zeta Psi was indeed guilty of violating standards of conduct involving harassment and two others pertaining to the national's ethics codes.
Redman informed the house's last president, Gene Boyle '02, and Zeta Psi's national organization of his final decision via e-mail and overnight mail, but said he had not received a response from either party as of late Friday afternoon.
Neither Boyle nor leaders of the national organization could be reached for comment.
Members of the fraternity filed documents with Redman on May 29 in an attempt to overturn the College's decision to shut down the organization.
As with any appeal of Greek disciplinary action, the Zete appeal needed to include at least one of three claims to be viable: that not all relevant information was presented during the initial judicial process, that procedural errors were made during the process or that the imposed penalties are too severe relative to the violations.
The organization incorporated all three claims within its appeal, but Redman, citing the College's policy to keep such details confidential, would not elaborate on the specifics of each claim.
When asked why it took so long for him to reach a conclusion -- Redman initially estimated that he would announce his final decision in mid-July -- Redman explained that he had been kept busy by both his recent move into a new home and last week's transplantation of the Office of Residential Life from Parkhurst Hall to Gerry Hall.
The principal reason for the delay in the announcement, however, was the ongoing process of gathering information relevant to the case, according to Redman.
Recognizing that the organization's appeal was hurriedly put together during a time when many students were immersed in final exam preparation, Redman requested that fraternity members provide additional information -- that may have not been included in the original appeal document -- throughout the summer.
Redman met with members of the organization earlier this month, he said, and has kept in contact with Boyle.
Overall, Redman said he felt hehandled the appeal process fairly.
"I believe that they [Zeta Psi fraternity members] had the opportunity to present the information they felt was important for me to have before I made the decision," he said.
What will become of the physical plant and the property owned by the national organization is unclear. Redman expects to hear from the organization in regard to the matter sometime this week.
Several Zeta Psi alumni reportedly reside in the building at present.
According to Redman, since alumni are no longer active students of the College, there is no rule preventing their residence in the derecognized house. But, as per College policy, any undergraduate students found to be residing within Zeta Psi -- as with any other facility that has lost College recognition -- may be subject to disciplinary measures, Redman said.
