Beta was first recognized by the College in 1858 under the name Sigma Delta Pi, joining the national Beta fraternity in 1889. It was subsequently de-recognized by the College on December 6, 1996 following a series of disciplinary incidents that culminated in the house violating suspension regulations during the Summer term of 1996. According to Dean of Residential Life Marty Redman, the College's revocation of recognition was deemed permanent at the time, akin to expelling a student.
Jeff Sassarossi '75, deputy director of the Dartmouth College Fund and a Beta member, explained his understanding of the immediate events that led up to the house's de-recognition.
"We were on social probation -- which included not having alcohol in the house -- and we had to have the College come in because of an oil leak, and they found a keg in the basement," he said.
Prior to its de-recognition, Beta had been placed on probation on multiple occasions in the 1990s. The College closed Beta for a year in 1994, after the fraternity was found guilty of hazing, disorderly conduct and violating the College's alcohol policy. In another incident one year later, a Beta member read a poem aloud at a weekly meeting that was condemned by the College as racist and sexist.
Following de-recognition, members of Beta were no longer allowed to hold meetings or organize events, and their house, which Beta currently leases to the women of Alpha Xi Delta sorority, was closed.
Sassarossi called the fraternity one of the strongest Greek organizations on campus during its existence. The house, he said, was characterized by having a consistently large membership of undergraduates that were actively involved on campus. Beta alumni have remained committed to the College by assuming various leadership roles including sitting on the Board of Trustees.
Sassarossi said that Beta-affiliated alumni would love to see the fraternity come back to the College.
"It has always been our intention that when the time was right, when the stars, the moon and everything lines up, we would try to come back as a national organization," he said. "We are working with national and the College and we will see how that pans out."
Beta alumni intended to wait for three years until all the undergraduate members enrolled during de-recognition had graduated from the College, then attempt a bid at re-recognition. However, their plan came to a standstill when the College instated a moratorium on new single-sex Greek houses in 1999. The removal of the moratorium in 2005 rekindled the dialogue between Beta's alumni and the College over the question of re-recognition.
Redman said that he was happy to engage in conversations with Beta alumni, but emphasized that he was under no obligation to re-recognize the organization after it was indefinitely banned by the College.
Currently a group of Dartmouth Beta alumni are negotiating with their national organization in order to reach an understanding about returning to the College as a nationally-affiliated fraternity.
Like all national organizations, Beta national has changed over the past 11 years and Redman said that the Beta alumni are trying to understand those changes and decide how those changes may be productive or destructive to their efforts in bringing their chapter back.
One of those changes is Beta national's no-alcohol policy for its member organizations.
"The alcohol restrictions as far as national is concerned are more directed at new chapters, and existing chapters are not going to be ... asked to go dry," Sassorossi said. "However, that is one of the points we are talking about and whether that is something that would fly at Dartmouth."
The current College policy states that any new or returning Greek organizations must be nationally affiliated in order to receive College recognition. Therefore, in order for Beta to be re-recognized, it would need to be affiliated with Beta national or another national organization.
"We strongly believe at this point in time, that being affiliated with a national organization is beneficial for the students," Redman said. "It's a privilege, not a right, to be a Greek here and if you want all the rights, the College gets to call some of the shots."
Redman said that it is entirely possible that Dartmouth's Beta alumni will reach a reconciliation with the fraternity's national organization. He feels the College has been very clear about Beta's inability to return as a local fraternity.
"This is about recognition. Any student is free to associate in any shape or form as they feel, but if you want to be a part of the Greek system and contribute positively, we and the Interfraternity Council and the Panhellenic Council will work with you and create a relationship," he said.
Redman reiterated that the College does not intend to deny students the freedom to associate socially anywhere they choose, but added that the recognition arrangement is one way Dartmouth chooses to avoid unnecessary legal issues.
