Original Article: http://dartreview.com/archives/2001/04/09/psi_u_speech_on_trial_loses.php
Monday, April 9, 2001
At 9 p.m. February 16, a female student approached Psi Upsilon and heard five voices chant 'Wah-hoo-wah, scalp 'em.' As she passed the house on her way to West Wheelock Street, the chants stopped. But they resumed: 'Wah-hoo-wah, scalp those bitches.' The terrified female could only respond, 'Psi U is so cool.'
The woman, writing anonymously took to her keyboard, and in the morning her story had spread across campus in the form of a 'Generic Good Morning Message.'
Psi Upsilon acted quickly and took responsibility for theses charges. Psi U president Mike Holick '02 issued a quick apology to campus and stated that the chants in no way reflect the accepted behavior in the house.
Holick also clarified the story, which 'anonymous' had exaggerated. Only four brothers stood on the lawn that night, and only two had chanted — as opposed to the five claimed. One brother on the lawn even approached 'anonymous' and apologized for the behavior of two of his brothers.
The activists on campus were outraged. Again. they thought the pervasive racist and misogynistic Dartmouth had reared its ugly head. 'I think that my identity is irrelevant. It could have happened to any woman on this campus. It might as well have happened to all of us,' said 'anonymous.' The Daily Dartmouth ran letter after letter condemning the house, sometimes urging draconian penalties — derecognition, expulsion of the perpetrators from the house and College.
Psi U did not let the actions of its brothers go unpunished. The two chanters were given severe house sanctions.
Despite Psi U's actions, Dean of Residential Life Martin Redman handed Psi U two terms of social probation. Social probation prohibits the house from serving alcohol in public spaces, effectively preventing open parties. The Judicial Committee found this punishment extremely harsh.
That Committee determined that Psi U was in violation of conduct standards regarding harassment, coercion, and leadership. The original penalty, as imposed by the Committee, was for programming sanctions. The house is required to host different events during the next two terms that talk about gender and race issues. One of these events to take place during Greek Week will be called, "Confronting the Idiot in Your Chapter". Not only must the brothers attend the events at their house, but they must also attend at least two events hosted by another group on campus.
Psi U will also have to change the programming it has for pledges, to make them more sensitive to gender and race issues.
According to one brother, the programming sanctions were justified since they
work toward fixing what the College views as a problem.
Dean Redman felt the programming sanctions too lenient, and thus ordered social probation. The Judiciary Committee thought the quick apology issued by the house and the actions the house took against the two brothers were evidence that social probation was not necessary. Psi U will appeal the decision. The outcome should be announced later this week.
Dean Redman said in the Daily Dartmouth that social sanctions are not just applicable when a house messes up on a party issue, it is not "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth" as he put it. A Greek senior told the Review, "The ruling by ORL is dangerous not only for Greek organizations but for the student body in general. Any attempt to take away our freedom of speech should be viewed with caution.'
Psi U is very upset by the ruling. The weekend after the ruling was announced the house was locked. Many of the members are questioning whether the answer to the perceived problem is preventing the house from having parties. 'The social sanctions are underhanded and inappropriate here. It was not a social event. It was [brothers] yelling on the lawn. It makes no sense to me to prevent the house from having parties to correct this problem,' said one brother.
Other members of the community feel that the social sanctions were too harsh. One freshman told the Review, 'The whole incident has been blown way out of proportion.'
'You can't punish an entire organization for the actions of a few members,' said another freshman. 'In this case the frat did take action against the offenders and that in addition to their public apology should have been sufficient.'
An individual's right to free speech is guaranteed in the student handbook: 'Freedom of expression and dissent is protected by College regulations. Dartmouth College prizes and defends the right of free speech.'