Zeta Psi house closed for school year

The alumni board of Zeta Psi has decided to close the house at 80 Professors Row for the school year, in what Grant Held, the president and chairman of the board of the Zeta Psi Kappa Elder Association, called a "proactive" step.

All residents were required to vacate the premises by midnight on Monday, Sept. 1 and find other accommodations for the year.

The decision was part of a negotiated settlement between the fraternity and the University and stemmed from an event during the summer and last February's incident where two fraternity pledges were hospitalized.

Over the summer, the University rejected Zeta Psi's appeal of their two-year social probation, a punishment handed down by the Committee on Fraternities and Sororities (CFS) after a hearing regarding the Feb. 20, 2003 party at the fraternity house.

Just before the University decision denying the appeal was released, the Tufts police caught one of the house's summer residents - who was not a fraternity member - holding a gathering on the rooftop deck with a keg of beer, forbidden by both University and fraternity policy.

Rather than go through another hearing on that issue, the fraternity's elder association, made up of Zeta Psi alumni who own the house and handle all legal matters for the active chapter, proposed the closure of the house.

The original social probation required the fraternity house to be closed over two summers in addition to not being allowed to hold rush or pledge activities. Social probation also prohibits parties and any alcohol in the fraternity house.

Zeta Psi will remain closed through next summer but will reopen next school year, though it will still be on social probation for another year.

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