Fraternity Recognized for Academic Achievement

Congratulations to the SEC at Fort Hayes State University. They achieved national recognition from the NIC for academic excellence.

Fraternity Recognized for Academic Achievement | Hays Post:

Sigma Phi Epsilon of Fort Hays State University was recognized by the North-American Interfraternity Conference (NIC) for its outstanding academic achievement during the spring semester of 2012-13.

The NIC requires member fraternity chapters to meet certain academic requirements in order to receive recognition.  Fraternities must rank first on their campus academically among other NIC member fraternities and have an annual un-weighted GPA at least .50 points above their campus’s all-male average GPA.

Sigma Phi Epsilon of FHSU is one of 22 different fraternity chapters across the country to receive this recognition.  ”We are proud to acknowledge the chapters who have exceeded their peers’ performance in academics,” said NIC president and CEO Pete Smithhisler.  ”The men in these 22 chapters are holding themselves to a higher standard, which epitomizes the spirit of fraternity done right.”

'via Blog this'

University of Minnesota Sig Pi's Honors Unsung Heros

Fraternity’s annual dinner honors ‘unsung heros’
The event included about 350 employees from the University's custodial staff.

By Amanda Bankston

With co-workers sitting on either side of him, Lynn Jorensen called Sigma Pi Fraternity’s Unsung Heroes Dinner on Friday his “last supper.”

It was mere coincidence that the 34-year veteran of the University of Minnesota’s Facilities Management was celebrating Good Friday and his retirement on the day of the meal he looked forward to every year.

“This type of thing is long due and well-deserved,” he said, after thanking Sigma Pi President Kipp Graham for his dinner on his last day at work. “This is kind of like my retirement party.”

For the past five years, members of the fraternity’s Iota Zeta chapter have prepared and served dinner for about 350 members of the University’s custodial staff at their University Avenue home to honor them for their service to the campus community.

“These people put so much work into keeping our university beautiful, but they don’t get very much recognition,” Graham said. “That’s why we call them our unsung heroes.”

Jorensen, who will leave Tuesday for a two-month trip to the Philippines, said the dinner is the only student-initiated effort to honor facilities staff that he has seen in his more than three decades of cleaning the University’s health sciences buildings.

The project was developed when the fraternity was a colony seeking full fraternity status in 2006. Every Sigma Pi chapter must host an Altruistic Campus Experience Project, and members decided to give back to those they feel deserve it most, Graham said.

Brad Hoff, an administrative officer for Facilities Management said the project is more than a free meal for custodians - it provides an opportunity to interact with their “customers.”

Management student Chris McCann said his favorite part of the altruism project is learning more about the staff members, including the most recent “beautiful building” award winner he spent much of the dinner chatting with.

A committee headed by freshman Spencer Knott has been preparing for the event since the beginning of the semester.

Graham and Knott said the biggest obstacle in planning the project this year was funding and shopping for the massive meal.

Typically, Sigma Pi attracts food donations from organizations such as University Dining Services, but this year, the fraternity wasn’t “on the top of anyone’s list,” Knott said.

As a result they did some “frugal shopping” and loaded an SUV with boxes of ingredients and cooking supplies for the menu of burgers and potato salad.

Sigma Pi members with prior experience in the food industry took the helm of kitchen operations, while others, including members of the Alpha Omicron Pi Sorority, served the meal and greeted the guests.

Knott said he hopes to run for chairman of the project again next year, though the week leading up to the dinner was “a pretty bad week” with the hours of preparation needed for both the project and two exams.

“It would be a waste to only do this for one year,” he said. “I see a lot of things I would do differently.”

Graham said one of those things would be providing meals for overnight Facilities Management workers who are not clocked in during the evening hours when the dinner is typically held.

http://www.mndaily.com/2011/04/25/frat’s-annual-dinner-honors-‘unsung-heros’

Religious Groups Denied Court Relief on Nondiscrimination Policy

Christian student group loses lawsuit over SDSU policy
By Greg Moran Union-Tribune Staff Writer

FEDERAL COURT - A federal judge ruled yesterday that a nondiscrimination policy at San Diego State and Long Beach State universities required for formal campus recognition does not infringe on the rights of religious groups that demand fidelity to Christian ideals and bar openly gay students.

The ruling by District Judge Larry A. Burns decides the lawsuit filed by Every Nation Campus Ministries in 2005. The group had alleged that complying with the policy violated its rights to free speech, free association and religious liberty.

It sought an injunction that would force the campus to recognize the group, and a finding that failing to abide by the policy was unconstitutional.

But Burns, relying on previous case law, said the policy was intended to regulate conduct, not speech or association.

He also said any restrictions in the policy were reasonable and “viewpoint neutral” and therefore not unconstitutional.

Recognized groups – there are more than 100 on each campus – receive financial benefits, access to meeting rooms and other areas of campus, and subsidized rentals of meeting facilities, Burns said.

A lawyer for the group was disappointed with the decision and said it would likely be appealed. Also involved in the suit were a sorority and fraternity that had Christian-only membership requirements. [Alpha Gamma Omega Fraternity and Alpha Delta Chi Sorority]

Jeremy Tedesco of the Alliance Defense Fund said the school policy “doesn't respect a Christian group's ability to make membership decisions” and control its own club.

He said that under the policy, a Republican political group could restrict its membership to Republicans, but a religious group – be it Christian or Muslim – could not.

Susan Westover, the lawyer for the university, said she was pleased with the ruling.
“This ruling keeps the doors open for all student organizations which, in order to gain official recognition, must be inclusive, not discriminatory,” she said in an e-mail yesterday.

In order to get recognition, groups must abide by the nondiscrimination policy that says membership cannot be withheld based on race, religion, age, gender, sexual orientation, disability and the like.

Before 2005, Every Nation was a recognized group and abided by the policy, Burns wrote. But in 2005, the group submitted a new constitution that required members to be Christians and reject homosexuality.

http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/2009/feb/07/1m7sdsu00821-christian-student-group-loses-lawsuit/?metro

© Copyright 2009 Union-Tribune Publishing Co.

How is the Resume Looking? Use SigEp and work experience.

Brother Chuck Eberly (OGH) has passed this along:

Dear Brothers,

I know you are in college and for many of you graduation seems like it is some distance away. The challenge is that getting a job AFTER graduation depends directly on what you do now to "stand out from the crowd" and make yourself the most likely job candidate.

What employers are looking for these days are people who show personal initiative, organizational leadership, and yes, solid GPAs. What student organizations do you belong to? Are you an officer? What jobs are you working at the same time you are a student? Are you keeping your student loans as low as possible? What work are you doing during the summer? Do you have a summer internship in the field of your major? What is your GPA? For most companies, men with anything below a 3.0 is just not even considered for employment. What can you do NOW to plan ahead?

Each person has different, individual, specific issues that support him to achieve. Let me support your efforts. Ask me and I will do my best.

Grads Face 'One of the Worst Job Environments in Years'
It wasn't long ago that universities were busy juggling visits from corporate recruiters and coaching students on how to weigh competing job offers. But in today's rough economy, schools are reporting fewer recruiter visits and openings, and less negotiating room.

Steve Hofstetter talks about Sigma Phi Epsilon

It's pretty neat when an up-and-coming entertainer is so open about his fraternity experience. This video shows comedian and hard-core SigEp Steve Hofstetter in interviews and directly talking about being a SigEp.

Tulane Sig Ep Remembered with Concert

Concert honors memory of late alum
By: Angie Baroffio

Two years ago, Tulane graduate Matt Costa was killed in a boating accident in where he had served for three years in the Peace Corps. Though he had completed his time teaching young children in a small Chadian village, Costa requested another year of service. He was transferred to Mali, where he taught villagers more advanced farming techniques and dee-jayed at a radio station.

In Mali, September 2006, Costa and another Peace Corps volunteer, Justin Brady, were killed on a sailboat Costa had constructed with friends. He was set to return to the United States later that month and was only 24 years old.

Costa's legacy as a hard-working and dedicated individual who touched hundreds of people lives on with the first annual "Music for Matt" concert, hosted by Costa's fraternity, Sigma Phi Epsilon, tomorrow night.

"This get-together is to celebrate Matt's life, a life way too short, but very long on compassion, adventure and giving and getting the most from every single day," said Pamela Cameron, Costa's mother. "But Matt's most important legacy is the number of people he touched."

Concert coordinators have recruited "musicians of all stripes for the benefit, proceeds from which will go toward two causes in stride with Matt's spirit, The Peace Corps and the Costa Memorial Scholarship, set up by his mother, Pamela Cameron," according to a press release from representatives of Music for Matt.

"We picked Rebirth [Brass Band] because it is a mainstay of New Orleans," Event Coordinator Daniel Lieberman said. Rebirth was founded in New Orleans in 1982 and has since gone on to tour the world.

"It's a really authentic experience that automatically makes you think of New Orleans," Lieberman said.

n addition to Rebirth, a variety of other bands plan to play the event. Kevin McDevitt, one of Costa's fraternity brothers, is the Rogue Heroes' drummers. Denver-based Frogs Gone Fishin' includes lead singer Trevor Jones, a Tulane alum who played in the band, The Zoo, while he went to school here. The last act, Soul Capital, is Miles Beats' and Ben Brubaker's band. Beats is a local DJ and Tulane sophomore and Brubaker graduated from Tulane this past year.

"This is the first year the [Matt Costa] Scholarship will be given," said Lieberman. "It will be given to a Tulane student Saturday night."

Costa's family and friends hope that the ideals that defined and exemplified Costa will continue to make a difference each year, both in New Orleans and in the world at large, despite his untimely death.

"The whole point of the thing is to commemorate the life of a Tulane grad and alum who died doing one of the most beneficial things you can do," Lieberman said.

Doors open at 8:30 p.m. at the Howlin' Wolf at 907 S. Peters St. Tickets are $10 with a student ID or $12 without it. Free buses will leave from Howard-Tilton Memorial Library starting at 9 p.m.

Court Orders UF to Recognize BYX

Appeals court: UF must recognize Christian-only frat
By Nathan Crabble Sun staff writer

The University of Florida has more than 60 officially recognized student groups that include religion as part of their missions, including groups for Christian pharmacy students and Jewish law students.

Yet the university denied a Christian fraternity, Beta Upsilon Chi, recognition on the grounds its membership policies were discriminatory.

Beta Upsilon Chi sued UF, leading an appeals court this week to require the university to recognize the fraternity as the case was being decided.

"All we're trying to do is get a group of guys who share a common bond in Jesus Christ together," said Damion Dam, a 20-year-old UF finance/pre-med major and fraternity president. "I really don't see why we weren't recognized in the first place."

University officials say there's a major distinction between Beta Upsilon Chi, or BYX, and other religious groups on campus. BYX requires members to be Christians, while other student groups are open to non-believers.

"The University of Florida welcomes all kinds of student groups including those with a religious focus," said Janine Sikes, UF spokeswoman. "(But) if someone who is a non-Christian wants to join, they should be able to."

BYX, pronounced Bucks, is the largest Christian fraternity in the U.S. Since being formed at the University of Texas in 1985, it has expanded to 20 other campuses.

The University of Georgia chapter was allowed as student groups under threat of legal action, but UF was the first to force the issue to court.

The U.S. Constitution requires universities to recognize religious groups, said Isaac Fong, an attorney for the Christian Legal Society's Center for Law & Religious Freedom who represented BYX.

"What we're arguing here is the First Amendment protects the right of students to form a group around a set of shared principles," he said.

Religious groups at UF walk a tightrope between specialization and discrimination. The Christian Veterinary Fellowship, which conducts mission work in other countries, is an example of an officially recognized group with a religious focus.

"That doesn't mean that we ask everyone who comes to our meetings whether they're Christian or not," said Michelle Bellville, a fourth-year vet student and group president. "We're open to everyone."

But she said members are likely to be Christians or searching for religion.
She cited the case of an undergraduate who came to a meeting to hear a speech and soon converted to Christianity.

As a recognized student organization, the group can use UF facilities and receive funding from student government. BYX's lawsuit claims that the university, by withholding those privileges from the frat, violated Constitutional rights to free exercise of religion, freedom of association and freedom of speech.

According to the suit, filed in the U.S. District Court in Gainesville, UF initially denied recognition of the group on the basis that they limit membership to men. Dam said the fraternity found a sister group to address that issue, but was told its policy to admit only Christians posed another roadblock.

UF requires student groups to comply with nondiscrimination laws and not discriminate of the basis of race, religion, sex and other personal characteristics.

The district court ruled against an injunction that would require UF to recognize the fraternity while the case was being decided. The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the decision, allowing recognition until a final ruling is made.

Brett Williams, national board member of BYX, said the order has wider implications.
"It has repercussions for all other religious groups who desire to assemble on university campuses," he said.

Sikes said UF will now allow BYX to start the process of being recognized as a student group, but it was uncertain whether the order had wider implications.

Dam said the fraternity's dozen members will start chapter business such as arranging for campus meeting space, even though the case is still pending.

"If anything does change, we still had this time when we were on campus," he said.

Interview: Steve Hofstetter, an up-and-coming comic

UPDATE:
Steve just sent out an email blast letting people know he has his first ever byline in the New York Times. Congrats. Is this how Jimmy Breslin got started?

Last100, a respected UK blog, has an in-depth article interviewing SigEp comic Steve Hofstetter and admiring his use of the "pay what you want" business model to sell his latest album.

Like Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails, Hofstetter has released his latest CD, “The Dark Side of the Room,” on his Website and has asked fans to pay whatever they want — 1 cent (I wish it were free!) to $4.95 (a bargain!) to $8.95 (save a buck!) to $29.95 (big tipper!), and everything in between.

Ever since I first posted on Hofstetter for last100 in December, I’ve noticed that artists are more often releasing their work on the Internet for free or with various payment schemes. This side-stepping-the-record-label approach is all the rage — and clearly a new business model.
[...]
Remarkably, in nearly three months since its release, “The Dark Side of the Room” has averaged about $5.80 a download — triple what he would have received under the terms of his last record deal.

And while he has not reached the $15,000 advance he received for “Cure for the Cable Guy”, Hofstetter expects to surpass that mark this year and for “Dark Side” to continue earning money for years to come.

“It’s fantastic,” Hofstetter said. “I am making more on this album than on any other album I’ve done. More people are seeing my stuff.

“It’s incredible. It’s amazing the difference in profit margin. It’s so cool. The fans pay less and the artists make more. It’s the greatest thing.”

Steve is a great guy. I met him when he did a show in Houston last year, then caught up with him at Conclave in Atlanta last summer. I recommend the album, too.

Interview: Steve Hofstetter, an up-and-coming comic, successfully plays same game as Radiohead, NIN | last100

UNK Sigma Phi Epsilon Chapter Earns Top National Award for Third Time

Publicity - better late than never.

This is a good recap of the chapter's accomplishments. The article not only points out the Bucannan Cup, but goes on the note various community service projects and other related honors and awards.

This is the third year the University of Nebraska at Kearney’s Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity has received one of the highest ranking national awards for their chapter.

The UNK Chapter has been awarded the Buchanan Cup, which is given to those Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternities that rank in the top 10 percent in the nation. Sigma Phi Epsilon is the largest college fraternity nationally with more than 14,000 undergraduate members at 260 chapters across the United States. Of the seven fraternities on the UNK campus, the Sigma Phi Epsilon chapter is one of the largest.

If your chapter has someone who is good at putting this type of PR together you have a valuable asset. If not you should look into finding or training someone.

UNK SIGMA PHI EPSILON CHAPTERS EARNS TOP NATIONAL AWARD FOR THIRD TIME

"Coastal Tradition" neckties

We got a nice letter from "Spencer" at Coastal Traditions today. They have a line of neckties with a fraternity theme and wanted some exposure.

SigEp is prominent, but they also have SAE, Sigma Chi, KA, ATO, Kappa Sig, and others. They have a license 'bug' on the site so one may assume they are legit.

These guys get one free ad. After that they'll have to buy space.

Our story began in 2007, when two friends took the few dollars in their pocket and decided to follow their entrepreneurial dreams. It was time to leave the classroom and get to work.

With a commitment to superior quality and styles that people love to wear, Coastal Tradition was born in Columbia, South Carolina.

While the influence and foundation for our concept reaches to the history of the southeast shore, Coastal Tradition was envisioned out of personal necessity. We wanted to find fine clothes perfect for any occasion, whether it’s the beach or the boardroom. Our aim is to construct an exceptional product that our friends and family would enjoy wearing, and we hope that you would too.

We strive to provide excellent customer service for our classic designs, and we hope that you wear our apparel with pride and confidence.

Since our formation, we have been having the time of our lives! We hope that Coastal Tradition will bring that same enjoyment to your home as well.

Coastal Tradition is tailored for your lifestyle. And it's not merely a style, it's a way of life.

We particularly like the "Gameday" ties incorporating school colors. Wish we had seen that in time to order for homecoming!

(Shameless self-promotion alert...) When you order - tell them you saw it here. Maybe they'll send us a freebie!)

Coastal Tradition About Us

ACLU Supports Sammy Cause at Chapman U

ACLU says Chapman is wrong to deny fraternity
A letter to university officials says the historically Jewish Sigma Alpha Mu should be allowed to recruit and be a part of campus life.
By Seema Mehta, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

Chapman University officials violated the constitutional rights of students who were trying to form a Jewish fraternity when they ordered the men not to recruit on campus or wear T-shirts promoting Sigma Alpha Mu, according to a letter the ACLU sent university officials Tuesday.

"Chapman, we have a problem," said Hector Villagra, director of the Orange County office of the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California. "These students have free speech rights."

The fraternity organizer, Pascal De Maria, now a senior, said he did not believe anti-Semitism was involved.

Chapman spokeswoman Mary Platt said the letter was under review and that some student contentions were untrue, such as being prohibited from wearing fraternity T-shirts.

"They've been wearing those shirts all semester. There has been no action taken. That's ridiculous," she said. "The university's only aim throughout all this is to assure that this group, as with any group, does not call itself an officially sanctioned Chapman organization when it's not, because . . . it leaves the university with considerable liability."

The controversy's roots are more than 2 years old, when De Maria and some friends decided to create a campus chapter of Sigma Alpha Mu, a historically Jewish fraternity. The students began recruiting members and meeting with university officials in spring 2005 about the application process. In April 2006, the university allowed a fraternity to set up on campus but turned down several, including Sigma Alpha Mu.

At the same time, the group's national organization gave the students "colony" status, a step below chapter status, and the Chapman students began wearing T-shirts emblazoned with the Greek letters on campus. In September 2006, Joseph Kertes and administrator Chris Hutchinson sent De Maria a letter ordering him to stop advertising fraternity events on campus and forbade him to hold fraternity events on campus or meeting at Chapman before heading to off-campus events.

They also said the group must clearly indicate that it is not affiliated with Chapman and request that the national organization send a letter to university officials stating that there is no chapter at the campus, and to agree to carry insurance coverage for Chapman students who associate with the local fraternity.

The letter was sent to several administrators, as well as the leaders of the university's sanctioned fraternities and sororities.

Chapman also sent leaders of these groups letters urging them to report to university officials if De Maria or the other Sigma Alpha Mu members were seen congregating on campus or wearing their T-shirts, Villagra said.

"I felt like a prisoner at the school I go to," De Maria said.

Platt said she could not comment on the September 2006 letter because it would violate De Maria's privacy rights. The university's decision to distribute the letter to other students is the subject of a complaint De Maria filed with the federal government.

She said the group was offered the option of becoming a school club, which is a much simpler process than becoming a fraternity.

The only difference is that the group would have to admit any man or woman who applied, she said.

The ACLU letter does not question the university's decision to deny the group its imprimatur but seeks a retraction of the restrictions in the September 2006 letter, as well as expunging students' records of anything relating to the fraternity issue.

Villagra said that the restrictions were applied only to Sigma Alpha Mu and not to any other unauthorized group that claims a Chapman affiliation, such as the Assn. of IntellegentPot Smokers and the Under age Drinkers (CU Chapter), both of which assert school affiliation on their Facebook pages.

Platt said university officials lacked the resources to police the Internet.

Villagra said if the university failed to act, the ACLU would consider suing.

De Maria said he would be happy if his group could do what other fraternal groups do -- play Ultimate Frisbee on the quad and hold meetings, charity benefits and social events.

"We have no intention of making the university angry or provoking them," he said."We really just wanted to associate ourselves with a brotherhood."
seema.mehta@latimes.com

More on New York Court Ruling

Insider HigherEd.com
Septembef 17, 2007
A Clash of Rights

Public colleges’ anti-bias policies have been taking a beating in the courts in recent years. Various federal courts have said that the policies can’t be used to deny recognition to Christian student groups - even if those groups explicitly discriminate against those who are gay or who don’t share the faith of the organizations.

Many lawyers who advise colleges, even some who deplore these rulings, have urged colleges to recognize that the force of their anti-bias policies has been severely weakened. Students’ First Amendment rights of freedom of religion and expression will end up trumping strong anti-bias principles, or so the emerging conventional wisdom has gone.

But an unusual decision from a federal appeals court on Thursday is challenging that conventional wisdom. The decision upheld the right of a public college - the College of Staten Island, of the City University of New York - to deny recognition to a fraternity because it doesn’t let women become members. In ruling as it did, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit found that the college’s anti-bias rules served an important state function - and a function that was more important than the limits faced by a fraternity not being recognized.

In a statement that some educators view as long overdue from the courts, the Second Circuit said that a public college “has a substantial interest in making sure that its resources are available to all its students.”

Further, and this is important because many college anti-bias policies go beyond federal requirements, the court said that it didn’t matter that federal law has exceptions for fraternities and sororities from gender bias claims. “The state’s interest in prohibiting sex discrimination is no less compelling because federal anti-discrimination statutes exempt fraternities,” the court said.

Some legal experts view last week’s ruling as a blip - a result perhaps of unusual circumstances in the case, or a trio of judges who happened to see the issue in a different way. An appeal is almost certain. But rulings by federal appeals courts become law in their regions and precedents that can be cited everywhere. And some lawyers, especially those trying to defend college anti-bias laws, say that the decision could be significant.

In the new ruling, “the court is saying there’s no question but that the government has a substantial interest in eradicating discrimination and it recognizes that non-discrimination policies that condition funding interfere [with students’ rights] only to a limited degree, and that’s exactly the issue in our case,” said Ethan P. Schulman, a lawyer for the University of California Hastings College of Law.

A federal judge ruled last year that Hastings was within its rights to deny recognition to the campus chapter of the Christian Legal Society, which barred from the group students who engage in “unrepentant homosexual conduct.” Based on other rulings, the Christian group has appealed, but Schulman said that the Second Circuit’s finding showed that colleges should not abandon tough anti-bias policies (as many have, when faced with similar legal challenges).

“Ultimately it may well be that the U.S. Supreme Court is going to have to decide these issues,” Schulman said. “But right now I think it’s a mistake for colleges and universities to assume that they should abandon strongly held policies of non-discrimination.”

Other lawyers had a range of predictions on what will happen as a result of the Second Circuit ruling. Some anticipate a quick reversal. Others see a new front in the culture wars, with anti-Greek educators seizing on the ruling to attack fraternities - and lawmakers rushing to protect the Greek system. Others say that non-Greek, single sex organizations on public campuses - think about a cappella singing groups - could find themselves under scrutiny. And others think that the fight over Christian groups that discriminate against those who don’t share their beliefs is about to get much more intense.

With so much potentially at stake, there is some irony about the origins of the case at a CUNY campus. CUNY colleges generally don’t house students, and Greek systems, to the extent they exist at all, are small and off campus. The lawsuit challenging CUNY’s anti-bias rules was filed by a new branch of Alpha Epsilon Pi, which was seeking recognition as an official student organization at the College of Staten Island. Such status would, among other things, allow the group to receive funds, publicize and hold events on campus, obtain a campus mailbox. The fraternity’s members said that their organization didn’t permit the inclusion of women, and that adding women would alter the nature of the group. Fraternity leaders testified that having women as members might lead to romance and “inevitable jealousies.” Even lesbians could be problematic, the fraternity said, because having a female member is “an issue itself.”

The fraternity sued CUNY, arguing that its rejection of the chapter on grounds of sex discrimination violated its right to “associative freedom” under the First Amendment. That argument carried the day at the district court level, which issued an injunction against enforcement of the anti-bias rule.

But the appeals court found that the fraternity was claiming associative rights (which offer some protection to groups with common beliefs and interests) while opening many of its events to non-members. In essence, the appeals court found that the fraternity members couldn’t claim to be selective about who they hang out with, while boasting about how open an organization they have created. Further, the court noted that the fraternity was free to meet off campus with its own money - and that the college had legitimate reason to enforce its anti-bias rules.
In just about every way, this take differed from the analysis applied by a federal appeals court last year in a case over the right of the Christian Legal Society to be recognized at Southern Illinois University. In that case, an appeals court found that the society’s right to religious freedom and free expression were violated by a university ban on support for groups that discriminated against gay people.

“CLS’s beliefs about sexual morality are among its defining values; forcing it to accept as members those who engage in or approve of homosexual conduct would cause the group as it currently identifies itself to cease to exist,” says that decision. “What interest does SIU have in forcing CLS to accept members whose activities violate its creed other than eradicating or neutralizing particular beliefs contained in that creed?”

Given that differing analysis - and the longstanding tradition of single-sex fraternities and sororities - what does the latest decision mean?

Timothy M. Burke, a lawyer who wrote a brief for the court on behalf of the North American Interfraternity Conference, called the decision “surprising and frankly disappointing.” He said he hoped that the fraternity in Staten Island would win on appeal, perhaps by stressing its Jewish roots to win some of the protection courts have granted to Christian fraternities. But Burke acknowledged that most fraternities and sororities couldn’t make a religious claim.
And that’s why he’s worried. “There has not been a huge clamor out there to change a system that’s been in place for well over 150 years,” he said. Further, the fact that fraternities and sororities were specifically exempted from federal gender bias laws shows that there is a broad consensus that their single-sex status shouldn’t be challenged, he said.

Attacking fraternities at public universities is especially unfair, Burke said, in light of the 1972 Supreme Court decision in Healy v. James that upheld the right of Students for a Democratic Society to be recognized as an official group at public campuses. “It’s a simple argument,” he said. “If the SDS has to be recognized, then organizations like Chi Omega and Sigma Pi ought to have that right.”

David French, senior legal counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, said that the Staten Island decision was decided incorrectly and that he was “moderately concerned” about it. French’s group has been a major player in challenging the enforcement of public colleges’ anti-bias policies against religious groups. Because the groups he is representing make an argument beyond associative rights, going to religious expression, French said he didn’t see a legal threat.
But he said that “perverse incentives” were created by the court. That is because the judges faulted the fraternity for wanting protection while also conducting many activities with a broad group of students. “That reasoning struck me as problematic for groups that want to identify themselves somewhere in between” having an exclusive mission and complying with all anti-bias rules. “The Second Circuit took that middle ground away,” he said.

And for any group that is traditionally all male or all female, such as singing groups or athletic programs, that could invite scrutiny, French said.

Greg Lukianoff, president of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, said that he believed the appeals court erred by underestimating the impact of being denied official recognition as a student group. A more realistic assessment of those burdens, he said, might have led to a different conclusion.

Lukianoff predicted considerable fallout from the decision, even though he thinks it is faulty. “At its worst, it provides a blueprint for public colleges to refuse to recognize any fraternity or sorority, which I think a lot of universities would love the opportunity to do,” he said. “I think this opens the door to a lot of future controversy.”

And if there is such a move, he said, “there will be a predictable backlash” from lawmakers who will try to protect Greeks. In the near term, Lukianoff said that fraternities “are in a more precarious position.”

Schulman, the lawyer for Hastings, said he thinks part of the reason the Second Circuit’s ruling will matter is that other courts are starting to advance similar arguments. He cited a ruling last month by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit that upheld the right of a Washington State high school that rejected a religious group’s quest for recognition. The court - in a case being appealed -- ruled that the group was appropriately rejected under the school district’s anti-bias policies because of religious limits on who could vote or hold office.

Groups that want organizations at public universities to be able to discriminate against gay people or non-Christians have been trying to argue that the issue was settled by the Southern Illinois case or a few other cases, Schulman said. While he acknowledged that some court decisions have gone that way, he said that the two recent appeals courts rulings were equally significant. “I think the issues posed by these cases are still very much in play,” he said. “It’s too early for either side to declare or predict victory.”

Lawrence White, formerly general counsel at Georgetown University and a lawyer in the counsel’s office at the University of Virginia, and now a consultant to colleges on legal issues, agreed. White thinks that many public colleges avoid the kind of legal dispute that is going on at CUNY by creating a specific exemption for fraternities and sororities to anti-bias policies.
The real impact of the decision may be in giving public colleges and universities the ability to enforce anti-bias policies against religious groups that discriminate against gay students or others, he said.

“This decision breathes life into the notion that anti-discrimination standards are standards that we should all adhere too, and that universities can define those broadly,” he said. By declaring that anti-bias policies “serve an important institutional interest,” he said, “this decision does provide a lever.”

Sheldon E. Steinbach, a lawyer in the higher education practice at the Washington firm Dow Lohnes, said that whatever one thinks of the latest decision, it may complicate life for colleges and their lawyers.

“What American society in general expects from courts is uniformity and consistency,” but this “revolutionary” decision takes an unexpected approach on a ragne of issues, and one that is not consistent with other rulings, he said. “This winds up being a very interesting case.”
- Scot Jaschik

The original story and user comments can be viewed online at http://insidehighered.com/news/2007/09/17/rights.

Fraternity funds help camp

Fraternity funds help camp

By TRACY FLACK
Alligator Contributing Writer

The kids at this camp are poked and prodded with needles up to 10 times a day, but they're used to it. They have type 1 diabetes.
During session one of Camp Winona, the Florida Diabetes Camp in DeLand, Fla., 161 kids have been doing their best to have a normal camp experience since Monday.
Counselors go through an intense two-day crash course, learning everything they can about diabetes and how to handle children who have it, said UF business senior Troy Pashuck.
His fraternity, Sigma Phi Epsilon, donated $16,000 raised by its annual dance competition, Surf Frenzy, to the camp.

The Independent Florida Alligator - Fraternity funds help camp

UF Christian Frat Sues for Recognition

Christian Fraternity Sues UF Claiming Exclusion

(AP) -- A Christian fraternity sued the University of Florida in federal court today, claiming discrimination because the university is refusing to recognize it as a registered student group. According to the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Gainesville, UF officials have told Beta Upsilon Chi that it can't be registered as an on-campus student group because only men are allowed to join, which amounts to prohibited sex discrimination. And the suit says Beta Upsilon Chi is not allowed to join the off-campus Greek system of fraternities and sororities because the fraternity requires its members to be Christians. The organization that governs UF's Greek system prohibits religious discrimination. By not being registered as a student group, the suit says the fraternity is deprived of benefits including access to meeting space and the ability to advertise and recruit members on campus.

UF Christian Frat Sues for Recognition