Greek Life Revitalization Report

Timothy M. Burke, Fraternal Law Partners, tburke@manleyburke.com Northern Illinois University, located in DeKalb, Illinois, had seen its student population decline from a high of 18,200 in the 1990’s, to 11,834 in the 2020-21 school year. Greek life on the campus,...
READ MORE

New Suit Alleging Procedural Deficincies Filed Against USC

Ilana Linder, Fraternal Law Partners, Ilana.Linder@manleyburke.com On January 4, 2023, an unidentified Petitioner, who was the former president of his fraternity at the University of Southern California (“USC” or the “University”), filed a Petition for Writ of Administrative Mandate (“Petition”)...
READ MORE

Cornell University vs. New York Chapter of Phi Kappa Psi Association

Timothy M. Burke, Fraternal Law Partners, tburke@manleyburke.com Members of Phi Kappa Psi were part of the first graduating class at Cornell University in 1869, and for the next century and a half, the University and the Fraternity maintained a beneficial...
READ MORE

Hazing Death Settlements: Serafin-Bazan and Foltz

Gracie Woodyard, [1]­­  Fraternal Law Partners, Gracie.Woodyard@manleyburke.com Sebastian Serafin-Bazan was a freshman at the University at Buffalo when, in April 2019, he passed away days after being found unresponsive in the yard of an off-campus fraternity house.2 His death followed...
READ MORE

“We’ve Got You Covered” – Qualified Immunity Provides Protection to University’s Title IX Investigators

Haellie Gordon, [1] Fraternal Law Partners, hgordon@manleyburke.com On December 22, 2022, the Kentucky Court of Appeals reaffirmed the protection of university employees and officers performing investigations of misconduct, such as Title IX investigations, under qualified immunity.[1] Loandrea Dahmer was a...
READ MORE

Arizona Makes Hazing A Crime

Timothy M. Burke, Fraternal Law Partners, tburke@manleyburke.com As of September 24, 2022, the state of Arizona now has criminalized hazing and the planning or organizing of hazing.[1] Also known as Jack’s Law, the enactment memorializes Jack Culolias, who drowned while...
READ MORE

Sam Martinez Hazing Death: Sam’s Law and its Impact on Greek Organizations

Stephen R. Bernstein, Stephen R. Bernstein Law Offices, srb@srbernstein.com Sam Martinez, a 19-year-old student at Washington State University (WSU), pledged the Alpha Tau Omega (ATO) fraternity in July of 2019. He died on the morning of November 12, 2019, from...
READ MORE

Another Foltz-Related Lawsuit Filed Against BGSU

 Ilana Linder, Fraternal Law Partners, Ilana.Linder@manleyburke.com A few months ago, the family of Stone Foltz, a BGSU student who passed away following the Pi Kappa Alpha Chapter’s Big/Little night, filed a civil lawsuit against Bowling Green State University (BGSU) in...
READ MORE

Injunction Issued Against the Theta Xi Chapter of Delta Tau Delta at Eastern Michigan University

 Timothy M. Burke, Fraternal Law Partners, tburke@manleyburke.com On January 5, 2022, as reported in the January issue of Fraternal Law, the Prosecutor of Washtenaw County, on behalf of the State of Michigan and joined by the City of Ypsilanti, sued...
READ MORE

The Elusive “Fairness” of University Investigative Processes

Haellie Gordon, [1] Fraternal Law Partners, hgordon@manleyburke.com On May 4, 2022, the Theta Delta Chi chapter (the “Chapter”) at Stanford University (the “University”) filed a complaint against the University following the revocation of the Chapter’s recognition for six (6) years.[2]...
READ MORE