Updates on Chico State and UCF Campus-Wide Suspensions

Daniel McCarthy

As reported in January (Chico State) and the March (UCF) issues of Fraternal Law, two public schools recently took the dramatic step of suspending near­ly all Greek activities on their respective campuses. Now that the Spring semester has concluded, life at both Chico State and the University of Central Florida still does not seem to be back to normal for Greek chapters.

At Chico State, the following activities were prohibited for the entire Spring semester: all social events (including formals, socials and exchanges), all philanthropy events, and all intramural sports. It is not clear whether any of these activ­ities will be permitted in the Fall 2013 semester. Of course, social events, philanthropy events and intramural sports form a large part of the daily activities for chapters and their mem­bers. The prohibition of these activities continues to raise due process and equal protection concerns.

At UCF, following a full week of presentations during which the chapters had to answer multiple questions and essentially prove their worth, the University reinstated 41 out of 4 7 chapters. Three chapters remained suspended after the reinstatement process. The reinstatement hearings each lasted 30 minutes, followed by a IO-minute case study and a 15-minute question and answer session with UCF’s Reinstatement Committee. Unlike at Chico State, the chap­ters were able to host philanthropic events during the suspension, but all social and new member activities were prohibited.

As the 2013-14 academic year begins, be on the lookout for other schools, both public and private, following in the footsteps of Chico State and UCF. It is imperative to immediately and forcefully assert the constitutional rights of your members and chapters.