Amherst College Bans Fraternities

[J842P]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/06/amherst-college-fraternities-ban_n_5275705.html

Amherst will prohibit student participation in fraternities and sororities and "fraternity-like and sorority-like organizations, either on or off campus," effective July 1, Cullen Murphy, Board of Trustees chair, told students in an email. The trustees also reaffirmed a 1984 decision barring formal college recognition of any Greek organizations.

...

Amherst does not officially recognize fraternities, but has allowed them to organize underground so long as their activities stayed off the campus of the college, in Amherst, Massachusetts. The trustees' review of Greek life at Amherst, a top-ranked liberal arts college, followed a 2013 suggestion from the Sexual Misconduct Oversight Committee, composed of faculty, students, staff, administrators and trustees.

The committee was formed in response to an October 2012 student newspaper op-ed by Angie Epifano accusing the college of mishandling her sexual assault case, sending her to a psychiatric ward in response to her comments about being depressed. Epifano filed a federal complaint against the college in December 2013, sparking an investigation by the U.S. Department of Education into whether Amherst violated the Title IX gender equity law. In that complaint, Epifano lambasted the college for a sexually hostile climate she blamed on the underground fraternities.

Honestly, I think Amherst is trying to deflect blame from themselves for their disgusting treatment of Angie Epifano. It really is worth reading her op-ed where she describes the disgusting treatment she received. After one reads that op-ed, it's hard not to think that banning Greek life is just more of the same non-solutions and evasions and desperate attempts to protect the school's reputation.

 

[Derec]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/06/amherst-college-fraternities-ban_n_5275705.html

Amherst will prohibit student participation in fraternities and sororities and "fraternity-like and sorority-like organizations, either on or off campus," effective July 1, Cullen Murphy, Board of Trustees chair, told students in an email. The trustees also reaffirmed a 1984 decision barring formal college recognition of any Greek organizations.

I find it highly problematic when colleges want to police what their adult students do in their own time off campus. It has the same totalitarian vibe fundamentalist Christian colleges are infamous for.

Honestly, I think Amherst is trying to deflect blame from themselves for their disgusting treatment of Angie Epifano.

Angie Epifano made a rape accusation 9 months after it allegedly happened. She had no evidence. Of course the radical feminists (and the Obama administration) want colleges to expel male students accused of rape without sufficient evidence (the accusation alone in many cases) and without any due process protections (like the right to confront one's accuser).
Had she really been raped, why didn't she go to the police right away? And what exactly was Amherst supposed to have done differently? Expel a male student without evidence and based on her word alone? Ignore her threatening to kill herself? What exactly?

Also this casts doubts on many of the details of her account.

 

[Bronzeage]

Does a University really have the legal authority to ban membership in a private social organization which has no on campus functions?

If this is true, I will lose all faith in the Invisible Alliance of Fraternity Alumni.

 

[SimpleDon]

Does a University really have the legal authority to ban membership in a private social organization which has no on campus functions?

If this is true, I will lose all faith in the Invisible Alliance of Fraternity Alumni.

I suppose that a private school can establish any rules or standards that they want to for the people who attend school there. I question whether or not it is wise for them to ban students who belong to these social clubs. It just seems to me that they would have more control over them if they allowed the clubs and established rules of behavior for them.

These students are adults but young ones which pretty much guarantees stupid behavior.

 

[hurtinbuckaroo]

This is what comes after Double Secret Probation.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

The Catholic college I went to had a public relations debacle. The result, non-marital sex was forbidden. Most students were up in arms about the new policy. I seemed to be one of the only ones that shrugged my shoulders and said, "It is one thing to ban it, it is another thing to actually enforce the policy." It never was, things really didn't change. It was merely a desperate act to appease parents (donors?). Window dressing of sorts.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/06/amherst-college-fraternities-ban_n_5275705.html

Amherst will prohibit student participation in fraternities and sororities and "fraternity-like and sorority-like organizations, either on or off campus," effective July 1, Cullen Murphy, Board of Trustees chair, told students in an email. The trustees also reaffirmed a 1984 decision barring formal college recognition of any Greek organizations.

I find it highly problematic when colleges want to police what their adult students do in their own time off campus. It has the same totalitarian vibe fundamentalist Christian colleges are infamous for.

Honestly, I think Amherst is trying to deflect blame from themselves for their disgusting treatment of Angie Epifano.

Angie Epifano made a rape accusation 9 months after it allegedly happened. She had no evidence. Of course the radical feminists (and the Obama administration) want colleges to expel male students accused of rape without sufficient evidence (the accusation alone in many cases) and without any due process protections (like the right to confront one's accuser).
Had she really been raped, why didn't she go to the police right away? And what exactly was Amherst supposed to have done differently? Expel a male student without evidence and based on her word alone? Ignore her threatening to kill herself? What exactly?

Do you subscribe to "Bitch" Magazine or something?

 

[Bronzeage]

Does a University really have the legal authority to ban membership in a private social organization which has no on campus functions?

If this is true, I will lose all faith in the Invisible Alliance of Fraternity Alumni.

I suppose that a private school can establish any rules or standards that they want to for the people who attend school there. I question whether or not it is wise for them to ban students who belong to these social clubs. It just seems to me that they would have more control over them if they allowed the clubs and established rules of behavior for them.

These students are adults but young ones which pretty much guarantees stupid behavior.

If it were legal to ban membership in fraternities, they could also ban membership in churches and soccer leagues. I don't see how the University's legal counsel could have allowed this to go forward.

 

[Derec]

Do you subscribe to "Bitch" Magazine or something?

Just for pointing out that she didn't really have any evidence whatsoever? Or for saying that the university should not have ignored her threat to drink a bottle of developing liquid?

 

[Tom Sawyer]

Instead of a fraternity, they should just start a Cool Kids Club. Then the club can buy a house and only let cool kids into it. They determine who's cool or not by spending a week at the beginning of the year having freshmen come by and demonstrate their coolness by being willing to engage in various demeaning activities and drinking a lot.

 

[Nice Squirrel]

Does a University really have the legal authority to ban membership in a private social organization which has no on campus functions?

No. Unless it is a private University (which Amhurst is).

Makes for some costly court battles though.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Do you subscribe to "Bitch" Magazine or something?

Just for pointing out that she didn't really have any evidence whatsoever? Or for saying that the university should not have ignored her threat to drink a bottle of developing liquid?

For knowing almost every single one of these cases.

 

[Derec]

Do you subscribe to "Bitch" Magazine or something?

Just for pointing out that she didn't really have any evidence whatsoever? Or for saying that the university should not have ignored her threat to drink a bottle of developing liquid?

For knowing almost every single one of these cases.

Sure, I had read about the case when it first broke (2 years ago) but it's not like I remembered any of the details. Instead, I googled it, reread her account and some of the reactions to it on the web.

 

[Rhea]

A question that often comes up on these cases is "why is the college/Uni handling this and not the police?" Something in the article came clear for me that I had not considered (should have, just never did). What other crimes are treated that way?

Her OpEd said, "Rapists are given less punishment than students caught stealing." And I realize that it is true, not all cases of theft are reported, they are dealt with by the Uni. Plagiarism (theft of intellectual property). Quite a few. So in one way it makes sense for Unis to think they have a handle on things. But it seems they should re-think their line. When it's a physical crime against a person, they should make their line on that. And always call the police. They the university should - just as churches should. No more hiding, no more protecting.

Some day it will be pride for the Administration to catch all your college's rapists, not pride to claim you have none.

 

[Tom Sawyer]

A question that often comes up on these cases is "why is the college/Uni handling this and not the police?" Something in the article came clear for me that I had not considered (should have, just never did). What other crimes are treated that way?

Her OpEd said, "Rapists are given less punishment than students caught stealing." And I realize that it is true, not all cases of theft are reported, they are dealt with by the Uni. Plagiarism (theft of intellectual property). Quite a few. So in one way it makes sense for Unis to think they have a handle on things. But it seems they should re-think their line. When it's a physical crime against a person, they should make their line on that. And always call the police. They the university should - just as churches should. No more hiding, no more protecting.

Some day it will be pride for the Administration to catch all your college's rapists, not pride to claim you have none.

I don't know about this. University administrators do tend to be more well-read than others, so it's safe to assume that a large number of them grew up reading Hardy Boys and/or Nancy Drew mysteries.

If there's a rape or a murder on campus, it's best for them to take the time to use this experience to investigate it themselves as opposed to turning the the case over to some amateur in the police department who likely spent more time on a sports field than in a library during his teenaged years and therefore wouldn't be as well-versed in sleuthing out clues about criminal behaviour.

 

[Derec]

Her OpEd said, "Rapists are given less punishment than students caught stealing." And I realize that it is true, not all cases of theft are reported, they are dealt with by the Uni. Plagiarism (theft of intellectual property). Quite a few. So in one way it makes sense for Unis to think they have a handle on things. But it seems they should re-think their line. When it's a physical crime against a person, they should make their line on that. And always call the police. They the university should - just as churches should.

Of course the police should investigate if there is anything to investigate. In this case there is no evidence. The rape activists want universities to do their kangaroo court (low level of evidence, no due process protections) even when police is either not investigating (because the accuser didn't bother filing a complaint), because there is not sufficient evidence to move forward or even when the police determines that the accuser made it all up (like that case in North Dakota).

No more hiding, no more protecting.

Due process rights of accused students should be protected. We need to remember that just because a woman cries rape that is not necessarily telling the truth.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Due process rights of accused students should be protected. We need to remember that just because a woman cries rape that is not necessarily telling the truth.

Yes, yes. Because we keep forgetting that despite of the echo chamber.

 

[Rhea]

The rape activists want universities to do their kangaroo court

Glurge completely unrelated to my post. No reply indicated.

 

[Derec]

Due process rights of accused students should be protected. We need to remember that just because a woman cries rape that is not necessarily telling the truth.

Yes, yes. Because we keep forgetting that despite of the echo chamber.

Well the Obama administration still hasn't heard. They still pretend that 'women don't lie about rape'.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Due process rights of accused students should be protected. We need to remember that just because a woman cries rape that is not necessarily telling the truth.

Yes, yes. Because we keep forgetting that despite of the echo chamber.

Well the Obama administration still hasn't heard. They still pretend that 'women don't lie about rape'.

Yeah... that isn't true. It is a tired strawman you always bring up.

 

[Derec]

Due process rights of accused students should be protected. We need to remember that just because a woman cries rape that is not necessarily telling the truth.

Yes, yes. Because we keep forgetting that despite of the echo chamber.

Well the Obama administration still hasn't heard. They still pretend that 'women don't lie about rape'.

Yeah... that isn't true. It is a tired strawman you always bring up.

Well the new 2011 directive shows that they do not care at all for the rights of the falsely accused. Read again on the treatment of the falsely accused male student at University of North Dakota under this directive.