It has only been one year since Dean of Judiciary Affairs Veronica Carter, unfairly sentenced Delta Tau Delta to a semester of social probation. Dean Carter had "punished" the fraternity for the mistakes of its Senior 2003 graduating class, who, all being of legal drinking age, had a keg during senior week (and not during the academic year!). While Carter may have seen it fit to punish the fraternity, the result of this probation was a penalty suffered by those who had no way been involved with the infraction.
Now, as the 2003-04 academic year come to a close, the good weather arrives, students are looking forward to a moment of fun before final exam time arrives... however, apparently fun is not allowed at Tufts and wrongful penalization is.
For the second time within one year, Delta Tau Delta (DTD) again finds itself under malicious scrutiny by the University. On Thursday, April 29, the University administration and the Committee on Fraternities and Sororities Judiciary Board (CFS-J) unjustly sentenced Delta Tau Delta to a year of being a dry house for violations including possession of kegs. Why is this punishment so malicious? Why has the Dean of Students and CFS-J dropped the ball again?
In February 2004, a Tufts first year student, whom the University has caught and named to DTD, created a fictitious and forged email, and attempted to frame and incriminate Delta Tau Delta by sending it to the Dean of Students office and The Tufts Daily. In the email, the student had falsely accused Delta Tau Delta of numerous Rush and University social violations, at the end of which he forged the name of a Delta Tau Delta brother as the sender. Shortly after the email was sent, Delta Tau Delta proved the email to be forged and believed the matter closed -- it was not.
After the e-mail incident, the Dean of Students began to unfairly target the Fraternity and instructed the Tufts University Police Department (TUPD) to conduct an investigation of Delta Tau Delta -- an investigation based on a forged email! With the investigation complete, the fraternity now finds itself again squashed by the anti-Greek administration here at Tufts.
While the administration should have dropped the matter after the email was proved to be forged, it did not, and this is unacceptable. Rather than focusing on punishing the criminal who had attempted to frame Delta Tau Delta, the University chose to aid him in the accomplishment of his spiteful goals through punishing the fraternity -- the VICTIM. The administration was more concerned with attacking Delta Tau Delta than with ensuring that the irrational student who committed the real crime was penalized.
Now, I am not trying to suggest that the fraternity was at no fault when it came to receiving this punishment, but the University should not have been investigating DTD in the first place. If DTD was to be investigated on the basis of a forged incriminating e-mail (i.e. for doing nothing wrong), why was not the rest of the Greek System investigated at the same time? Surely if DTD can be investigated for doing nothing wrong, shouldn't all other Greek organizations face the same malevolent scrutiny from the University? Investigation and punishment of Delta Tau Delta by the University predicated on an attempt to frame the fraternity, along with no attempt by the University to investigate other Greek organizations, clearly represents an act of malicious and biased targeting of Delta Tau Delta. The administration would find the same infractions of the social code at any fraternity, sorority, or student organization at Tufts on any given weekend. And yet, it only attacks Delta Tau Delta. The members of Delta Tau Delta, the Greek system, and the Tufts community should be outraged at the University administration's lack of judgment in this matter. The administration should be ashamed of this second unjust attack on Delta Tau Delta within one year.
Now, Delta Tau Delta could appeal this decision to a university hearing, but it would be of little use to do so. Because Tufts is a private institution, it has the liberty to provide its own procedures and rules for hearings, and ignore codes of ethics and law which would apply in the United States legal system. Thus, while in any court, a forged e-mail would be dismissed as the basis of any investigation, Tufts can, however unethically, use the forgery as the basis to begin any penal process it desires. Furthermore, even if Delta Tau Delta were to go to an appellate hearing, our capability to be vindicated would be significantly hindered by the university's hearing guidelines. For instance, did you know that while Tufts reserves the right to use its lawyers to examine witnesses and present evidence against student organizations at a hearing, it only allows student groups to have a lawyer for consultation?! In other words, Tufts expects an undergraduate student to compete against a lawyer in presentation of arguments! How unfair and unethical does the University intend to be?
This attack on Delta Tau Delta is not only another example of the administration's disdain for Delta Tau Delta, but also of how it intends to wear down the entire Greek system until it is exterminated. Moreover, by basing its investigation on a forged email and then punishing Delta Tau Delta, the administration has aided in the accomplishment of the forger's goal. The administration should be ashamed of its actions.
I think we as the Tufts Community should thank the University for being unethical, inconsistent, and unjust when handling Greek System affairs. Because of its recklessness, fewer Greek houses will act as forums for social events. I would personally like to thank the administration for helping to destroy Tufts' social life and remind it that when fraternities were closed in fall 2003, calls to Tufts Emergency Medical Services (TEMS) increased.
As a final note, I urge all supporters, alumni, and parents of the Delta Tau Delta, the Greek system, and Tufts to call and complain to the Dean of Students office, or send letters of complaint to Dowling Hall. The $39,999 in tuition paid by Tufts' Students should not include the salaries of administrators who harass the Greek system, and then attempt blemish our college experiences -- we must let the school know this. Furthermore, this inconsistent and unjust 'hardball' that the administration plays must be stopped. It is time to show them that the Greek system and its supporters are strong and will not put up with such anti-Greek activity.
Personally, having had my college experience attacked twice by the administration, I will never donate a cent of my earnings to Tufts. It is amazing that the Tufts administration wonders why the school's endowment is so small. Perhaps the University should stop creating discontented students, for discontented students become non-donating alumni.
