Officials deny Psi U. request for recognition

Cite IFC expansion concerns The Psi Upsilon fraternity, known as the Castle, will not return to the University next fall. Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs Director Tricia Phaup said the fraternity's request for provisional recognition status has been denied. Psi Upsilon began the process of reapplying to the University for re-recognition last semester. The University revoked its charter in 1990 after fraternity members kidnapped a member of Delta Psi, a rival fraternity. All members of Psi Upsilon were ultimately kicked out of their residence at the center of campus, known as the Castle. The Community Service Living Learning Program is currently housed there. Phaup said representatives from the fraternity met with the Greek Alumni Council and Interfraternity Council earlier this spring. GAC Chairperson Andrea Dobin said at the time that the question of whether to grant the fraternity provisional recognition status was not considered to be the primary concern of the meeting. The issue of sophomore rush was at the forefront as GAC found itself discussing the Commission on Strengthening the Community's recommendation to delay the Greek rush period until the second year, Dobin said. Psi Upsilon's request was debated by GAC, and Dobin said there was concern over how the fraternity went about the reapplication process. "They didn't have all their ducks in a row before they came before us," Dobin said. "That was disturbing." Mark Williams, executive director of Psi Upsilon's national headquarters, said a statement was sent to him outlining why the fraternity was not granted provisional recognition status. "Psi Upsilon has not taken overt measures to ensure the clear separation between the old members and the new," the statement read. Williams said GAC is concerned about a group of former Psi Upsilon members who call themselves the "Owl Society." When the fraternity's charter was revoked in 1990, it was understood that if Psi Upsilon were to reapply for recognition, nobody from the old chapter could be involved, Williams said. He said, though, that nobody from the old chapter was involved in the reapplication process. Williams said he would have no problems keeping members of the Owl Society out of a new chapter of Psi Upsilon, but that nobody from the University has told him who these members are. "If [the University] tells us who they are, we will make sure they are not involved," Williams said. "We'll make that a condition of our coming back." The other reason cited by the University for denying the fraternity's request was the IFC's reluctance to expand so quickly. IFC president Hayden Horowitz said the IFC brought a new fraternity, Pi Kappa Phi, to campus last fall and that two fraternities on suspension, Pi Kappa Alpha and Theta Xi, will probably return sometime next year. Horowitz said PiKA and Theta Xi were suspended and therefore could get re-recognized immediately following the end of their suspension. Since Psi Upsilon had its charter revoked, it had to reapply as if it was a new fraternity seeking recognition by the University, he added. Williams said the fraternity was not given notice about IFC's expansion policy until February, when a representative of Psi Upsilon met with the IFC. An actual copy of the IFC's expansion guidelines was not given to Psi Upsilon until a few weeks ago, Williams said. The fraternity received the copy along with a letter detailing the IFC's decision to not grant the fraternity provisional recognition status. Horowitz said there was a lapse in communication between the IFC and Psi Upsilon. Normally, an expansion committee, and not the entire IFC, would hear a presentation from a fraternity applying for recognition status with the University. No such committee was formed, and since the fraternity already had a representative in a Philadelphia meeting with GAC, Horowitz decided to make an exception and hear the presentation. Once the expansion committee was formed, though, it reviewed the situation and decided that it would not be advantageous for the IFC to bring back Psi Upsilon at this time. Williams said he has been in contact with Phaup since last August and thought the fraternity had followed all the proper procedures during the reapplication process. "We will play by the rules of the game, but we ask that we're fairly treated," he said. Dobin said the ongoing litigation over ownership of the Castle did not play a role in the GAC's decision. "We're looking at the more philosophical issues of whether they should be on this campus, and not where they would live once they got here," she said. It is unclear whether Psi Upsilon will try next fall to reapply for provisional recognition status once again, Williams said. The fraternity is now aware of the University's concerns regarding past members and expansion, and Williams said he hopes the University has no other reservations about the fraternity. "If there is something else that's bothering them, they need to tell us about it so we can fix it," Williams said. "I can't fix it if I don't know about it."

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