Evicted Frat Claims Foul Play

Members of the Zeta Psi fraternity, who had their brownstone revoked this summer for housing policy violations, claim they have received an undeserved punishment due to the vested interests of members of the Greek Judicial Board and Columbia University’s recent focus on cracking down on partying.

According to members, Zeta Psi, which was put on probation in February 2006 for property damage, had gone complaint-free since that April, when they self-reported a hole in their basement ceiling inflicted by a non-Columbia guest.

Following an investigation, administrators charged the fraternity with reckless or intentional damage as well as with holding an unregistered party after discovering numerous garbage bags and a table that smelled of beer.

At a judicial hearing in May, Columbia’s Greek Judicial Board voted to remove the fraternity’s housing privileges based on property damage charges. The decision was upheld by Associate Dean of Student Affairs Kevin Shollenberger after an appeal this summer.

According to Alec Glucksman, CC ’08 and president of Zeta Psi, several factors combined to prevent the fraternity from receiving an impartial disciplinary process.
“They [the board] brought information about complaints and grievances against the chapter dating back to 2003,” he said, noting that no current members of Zeta Psi attended Columbia at that time.

Due to the timing of the hearing, members of the board who had already left Columbia for the summer were replaced by others, several of whom were involved in un-housed Greek organizations. Glucksman said he was uncertain whether these board members could remain impartial in the given situation. “They would theoretically have conflicts of interest when they have a vested interest in an organization losing the house when they could gain it,” he said.

In a statement released Monday, the Inter-Greek Council stood by the board’s decision. “Decisions made by the Greek Judicial Board are made as a collective and incorporates no individual biased opinion on the matter being reviewed,” it said. “The Columbia University Greek community completely upholds any decisions made by the Greek Judicial Board without question.”

After the investigation, the fraternity was informed it must either attend the judicial hearing presided over by the students on the Greek Judicial Board in May or meet with Assistant Dean of Judicial Affairs Morgan Levy over the summer.

While the fraternity chose to have their case heard by their peers, these may not have been Zeta Psi’s only options at the time. According to Glucksman, Assistant Director of Greek Life Victoria Lopez-Herrera told him at a later meeting that the fraternity could have brought its case to the judicial board in the fall. Glucksman said this would have provided key time to prepare a defense.

“The decision to revoke Zeta Psi’s housing privilege was looked at very carefully by the Student Affairs administration,” Shollenberger said in a written statement. “There were a number of steps in the process that allowed the chapter and their national headquarters to state its case. ... For several years (and definitely since February of 2007), we have been working with Zeta Psi regarding on-going behavioral issues, and it was made clear the consequences that would result from any future violations.”

Despite Zeta Psi’s selection of the judicial board to hear their case, Glucksman said he believed that Levy’s presence might have influenced the outcome.

“I don’t feel like on their own, a group of students would make such a recommendation,” he said.

Levy was unavailable for comment.

Columbia’s recent efforts to stamp out partying on campus have led Glucksman to conclude that Zeta Psi was made to be an example. “Columbia was trying to send a message, not just to the housed Greek organizations on campus, but to the campus in general, that violating social policy won’t stand,” he said. “The punishment doesn’t seem to fit the crime because this stuff does go on, and we’re the ones that got the short end of the stick.”

Laura Schreiber can be reached at laura.schreiber@columbiaspecta-tor.com.