While I agree completely with your stance on second chances, I disagree on your premise that because this is a liberal arts school we should be willing to give a second chance. As a liberal arts campus that is meant to be open and accepting of a variety of people, fraternities and sororities should be banned. Many small, liberal arts schools have banned fraternities and sororities in the past few decades without much ado.

I think this is an excellent point from a different side than perhaps we are used to hearing about FIJI’s. To further discuss your initial about ASG and IFC lacking any real power, I think we can only blame ourselves as students. 

We expect our organizations to have power when all we do is make a suggestion to the board of trustees. It seems to me that two important factors are taken into account when decisions about this campus are made. 

The first is how much money/funding is backing up a particular opinion about an issue. The trustees use this to their advantage, and that is their right as people who provide a lot of financial services to our college.

Another factor is simply the number of people who support or oppose an issue. As students, we rarely (if ever) use this, but it is our main point of leverage. We outnumber the trustees, the administration, the faculty, and many other groups and yet we never seem to protest in numbers about issues we are allegedly passionate about.

ASG and IFC have power, and that power lies in their ability to assemble students at this school.  The trustees can turn down our recommendation, but they can’t turn down 100 students who have gathered to share their opinion on an issue. 

Before another policy overrides student opinion, let’s consider actually voicing those opinions rather than r”ecommending” them.

The question is not whether the board had the legal precedent to hold a vote under the cover of darkness to make this decision. I’m sure the bylaws allow it, since, especially in higher ed communities whose members are immature young adults, the board must be allowed to go against the public’s wishes in order to serve its best interest. What is truly frightening is that the board is clearly abusing its power to advance its own collective interests under the guise of public service–the main point of your post seems to be you think you are doing what’s best for us. To add insult to injury, you, a member of this committee, have the audacity to seek out a public forum where students are venting their concerns and anonymously post a condescending (and almost incoherent) manifesto on greek life and authority. I am allowed to post anonymously. You, a leader who technically can be held accountable, are not.And no, I am not a member of greek life, despite your assumptions. I am a concerned alumnus who is ashamed that this decision was made. I was never a fan of greek life, though I had many friends within it, and to me the FIJI’s represented the worst of the worst. When I heard of this decision I immediately removed Allegheny from my education history on facebook. Will this decision ruin Allegheny immediately? No. And to be honest there is a little bit of a conspiracy going on within greek life–the other frats are scared you’ll take members away. But for those who care about something more than pledges, for those who care about how small groups influence the culture and reputation of their larger communities, the FIJI’s DID do something SO HORRIFIC that they were made homeless and expelled, and their disgraceful legacy has remained the talk of the town FOR DECADES. The crime was so horrible that the school essentially burned the files in the boiler room to prevent them from ever surfacing again. As such, no one but those who were there can say for sure the nature of the crime. As far as I know, the other fraternities were kicked off for minor (low enrollment) to moderate (hazing) infractions, not rape or murder, whichever it was. And that is the difference. To invite FIJI back on to campus while their reputation is still surrounded by the word “rape” is asking for trouble. And your assurance that they “will be closely watched” doesn’t do much for me, since it is you who is doing the watching. Those who join will, no doubt, have heard the rumors, but see no problem with being associated with rape and join up anyways. Do you see my angle here? It’s just going to perpetuate the same culture of hyper masculine, get rich or die trying bufoonery that got you kicked off in the first place. And even if it doesn’t end in another crime, the flavor of the community is going to change. I could barely stop myself from transferring when “faggot” was painted on someone’s door last year, and I was a senior! I care that much!  And I’m sure that you, a board member, know all about Allegheny’s history. You probably know that a number of years ago this institution was teetering on the edge of disaster. The culprit was an reckless board and administration that, besides being downright stupid, abused their power to serve their own interests instead of the community’s, and the place came close to bankruptcy. Someone got smart, don’t know who, and brought in Richard Cook, Scott Friedhoff, and Dave Mclnally who singlehandedly dredged this shit hole up from the bottom of the sea. I dearly hope history isn’t being repeated