MsJag4Jag
Moderator
? More From Today's Birmingham News
News
Judge orders 10 Auburn frat members reinstated
11/24/01
BENJAMIN NIOLET and ADAM GOLDMAN
News staff writers
A judge Wednesday ordered Auburn University to
reinstate 10 white Beta Theta Pi fraternity members
suspended for wearing blackface and racially offensive
costumes at a Halloween party.
Lee County Circuit Court Judge Robert Harper's ruled
at a hearing Wednesday after the Auburn University
chapter sued the university, several administrators
and the fraternity's national office. Harper, however,
did not grant a request to bar the university from
pursuing further discipline, including expulsions.
The chapter president of Delta Sigma Phi, which was
suspended from the school for similar antics, said
Wednesday night that his fraternity plans to go to
court as well. Matt Furin said the chapter wants its
five suspended members reinstated and their fraternity
restored to campus. "We are taking legal action," he
said.
Auburn interim president William Walker suspended 15
members of the traditionally white fraternities after
pictures of members at separate Halloween parties were
posted on the Internet. The pictures showed members
wearing blackface and dressed as Ku Klux Klan members.
Some of the photos portrayed mock lynchings.
The university and the national offices of the
fraternities closed the Auburn chapters last week.
Lawyers for both the Beta chapter and the university
declined comment Wednesday night.
The lawsuit, which seeks $300 million in compensatory
and punitive damages, names Walker, the Auburn
University Board of Trustees, Auburn's director of
student affairs Wes Williams, and Beta Theta Pi
General Fraternity.
The lawsuit, filed Tuesday, claims that Auburn
officials and the national office of the fraternity
violated the students' constitutional and civil
rights, including freedom of speech, freedom of
association and privacy guaranteed by the First and
14th Amendments.
The Betas also claim the university's standards on
student conduct, primarily dealing with racial issues,
are unconstitutionally vague and cannot be enforced.
They say university officials defamed them by
identifying them as racists.
The chapter claims university officials had ulterior
motives for suspending the students and kicking the
chapter off campus. The suit said university officials
used the incident to defend their failure to meet
court-required minority recruitment.
Reached at home Wednesday night, Walker said he was
pleased with the disciplinary steps the university had
taken, but declined to discuss the court action.
Williams, the Auburn vice president for student
affairs, said Wednesday, "I think they have the right
to go to the courts. I'm disappointed that this has
been elevated to the courts. I thought we could work
it out."
The Beta chapter was founded in 1964 by Edward Taylor,
79, who said Wednesday he and the suspended members
felt helpless and wronged by the university's
decision.
"I feel like we got a raw deal in having the chapter
suspend us," the Auburn resident said of the chapter
and the students. "We weren't able to do anything
about it." News staff writer Tom Gordon and the
Associated Press contributed to this report.
News
Judge orders 10 Auburn frat members reinstated
11/24/01
BENJAMIN NIOLET and ADAM GOLDMAN
News staff writers
A judge Wednesday ordered Auburn University to
reinstate 10 white Beta Theta Pi fraternity members
suspended for wearing blackface and racially offensive
costumes at a Halloween party.
Lee County Circuit Court Judge Robert Harper's ruled
at a hearing Wednesday after the Auburn University
chapter sued the university, several administrators
and the fraternity's national office. Harper, however,
did not grant a request to bar the university from
pursuing further discipline, including expulsions.
The chapter president of Delta Sigma Phi, which was
suspended from the school for similar antics, said
Wednesday night that his fraternity plans to go to
court as well. Matt Furin said the chapter wants its
five suspended members reinstated and their fraternity
restored to campus. "We are taking legal action," he
said.
Auburn interim president William Walker suspended 15
members of the traditionally white fraternities after
pictures of members at separate Halloween parties were
posted on the Internet. The pictures showed members
wearing blackface and dressed as Ku Klux Klan members.
Some of the photos portrayed mock lynchings.
The university and the national offices of the
fraternities closed the Auburn chapters last week.
Lawyers for both the Beta chapter and the university
declined comment Wednesday night.
The lawsuit, which seeks $300 million in compensatory
and punitive damages, names Walker, the Auburn
University Board of Trustees, Auburn's director of
student affairs Wes Williams, and Beta Theta Pi
General Fraternity.
The lawsuit, filed Tuesday, claims that Auburn
officials and the national office of the fraternity
violated the students' constitutional and civil
rights, including freedom of speech, freedom of
association and privacy guaranteed by the First and
14th Amendments.
The Betas also claim the university's standards on
student conduct, primarily dealing with racial issues,
are unconstitutionally vague and cannot be enforced.
They say university officials defamed them by
identifying them as racists.
The chapter claims university officials had ulterior
motives for suspending the students and kicking the
chapter off campus. The suit said university officials
used the incident to defend their failure to meet
court-required minority recruitment.
Reached at home Wednesday night, Walker said he was
pleased with the disciplinary steps the university had
taken, but declined to discuss the court action.
Williams, the Auburn vice president for student
affairs, said Wednesday, "I think they have the right
to go to the courts. I'm disappointed that this has
been elevated to the courts. I thought we could work
it out."
The Beta chapter was founded in 1964 by Edward Taylor,
79, who said Wednesday he and the suspended members
felt helpless and wronged by the university's
decision.
"I feel like we got a raw deal in having the chapter
suspend us," the Auburn resident said of the chapter
and the students. "We weren't able to do anything
about it." News staff writer Tom Gordon and the
Associated Press contributed to this report.