The Ohio Tax Commissioner, Thomas M. Zaino, challenged the tax exemption of a sorority residence known as Magnolia House, owned by the Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio.  Alpha Phi has a chapter whose members live in Magnolia House...

“Underlying the whole experience is the ritual that is exclusive to each fraternity….  A fraternity ritual is the solemn and historical rationale for an organization’s existence.  The ritual is often presented to new members during a serious church-like ceremony where...

Tim Burke, Manley Burke, tburke@manleyburke.com On September 1, 2003, the History Channel aired an hour and a half special entitled “Frat Boys.”  Focusing on the Phi Delta Theta Chapter at the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss), the program traced the...

Robert Manley, Manley Burke Every human contact is a potential human dispute.  College fraternities have thousands of human contacts on every campus, every week.  Sometimes, these contacts lead to interpersonal conflicts that attract the attention of the college administration.  Sometimes,...

Nathan W. Sprong Two twenty-year-old Sigma Phi Epsilon recruits died July 26, 1998, the evening they attended a recruiting event for the Mississippi State University Chapter at the Iron Horse Grill in Jackson, Mississippi.  Joshua Jones and Matthew Freeman were...

Tim Burke, Manley Burke, tburke@manleyburke.com The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) has launched a campaign to eliminate campus speech codes.  While acknowledging that few universities today maintain what they label as “speech codes,” FIRE defines speech codes as...