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A New York Supreme Court judge ruled Thursday that Syracuse University unfairly suspended a fraternity chapter, Alpha Chi Rho, after a friend of a fraternity member allegedly harassed a Black student in 2019, according to a court order.
The incident was reported at the height of racial unrest on Syracuse’s campus in November 2019 and was part of a series of incidents that caused Black students to lead a weeks-long sit-in in a university building. A friend of an Alpha Chi Rho member was accused of harassing a Black student, which he denies. The friend was not a Syracuse student or a member of the fraternity, and the incident did not occur on campus, the ruling said.
The university’s student conduct board found that the Alpha Chi Rho chapter was responsible for the harassment and suspended the chapter for one year, according to the ruling by Scott DelConte, a New York Supreme Court justice for Onondaga County. A Syracuse official then rejected the chapter’s appeal, “claiming that there was an implied ‘expectation’ in the university’s policies that fraternities would be held responsible for the actions of their guests,” DelConte wrote.
“Alpha Chi Rho did nothing wrong,” he wrote, adding that the Syracuse decision to suspend the fraternity “must be annulled as arbitrary.”
In a statement to Syracuse.com, the university said it disagrees with the judge’s ruling.
“Students and student organizations are responsible for the conduct of the guests they bring to campus,” the statement said. “We will not tolerate hate on our campus -- not from our community members and not from their guests. We will continue to hold the hosts of guests accountable, especially when their actions jeopardize the safety and well-being of our students.”
