SIGMA CHI SEEKS PROTECTION AGAINST DICKINSON COLLEGE

Dan McCarthy, Manley Burke The Omicron Chapter of Sigma Chi recently sued Dickinson College seeking the ability to exist as an off-campus organization comprised of Dickinson students.1  Dickinson, a private college, removed Sigma Chi’s official recognition in 2004.  The removal...
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ENFORCEABILITY OF LIABILITY WAIVERS

Elizabeth Hutton Are liability waivers used by fraternities and sororities in the context of social events, particularly recreational activities, enforceable? The answer is that, like most other things in the law, “it depends.” While the enforceability of liability waivers varies...
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FLORIDA HAZING LAW FAILS FIRST TEST

Tim Burke, Manley Burke, tburke@manleyburke.com In what was apparently the first effort to enforce Florida’s new tough anti-hazing law, the criminal prosecution of four fraternity members ended in a mistrial when the jury could not define “serious bodily injury.” In...
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STATE COLLEGE MOVES TO CLOSE TWO FRATERNITY HOUSES

Tim Burke, Manley Burke, tburke@manleyburke.com Two fraternities at Penn State, Tau Kappa Epsilon and Phi Kappa Tau, face the prospect of losing the right to occupy their fraternity houses for six months due to violations of the Borough of State...
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CONGRESS CONSIDERS FRATERNITY ISSUES

Tim Burke, Manley Burke, tburke@manleyburke.com The Capital Fraternal Caucus, according to its web site, www.fraternalcaucus.org, is made up of Greek men and women in the Washington D.C. area with expertise in the public policy process.  The goals of the Caucus...
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PRINCETON CRITICAL OF FRATERNITIES, BUT RECOGNIZES RIGHT TO JOIN

Tim Burke, Manley Burke, tburke@manleyburke.com “I pledge myself, without any mental reservation, that I will have no connection whatever, with any secret society in this institution as long as I am a member of the Princeton University; it being understood...
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