Castle causes dilemma

The saga of the Psi Upsilon fraternity, formerly known as the Castle, keeps getting stranger and stranger. Last week it was reported that both the Greek Alumni Council and the Interfraternity Council had decided not to grant provisional recognition status to the fraternity, which had been seeking re-recognition from the University since last fall. Psi Upsilon's charter was revoked by the University in 1990 after several brothers kidnapped a member of Delta Psi, a rival fraternity. All members of the fraternity were kicked out of their house at the center of the campus, commonly known as the Castle. And the Community Service Living Learning Program is currently housed there. The decision not to grant recognition status to the fraternity came as a shock to the national headquarters of Psi Upsilon, but not a huge surprise to many at the University. Mark Williams, executive director of Psi Upsilon's national headquarters, said last week he had not heard from anyone at the University since receiving notice of the decision not to grant recognition. Several aspects of the University's long history with the fraternity, though, point to its decision not to re-recognize Psi Upsilon. One of these is the ongoing litigation between the local alumni chapter of Psi Upsilon and the University regarding ownership of the Castle. Psi Upsilon and the University apparently entered into an agreement over the property in the 1950s. This agreement essentially turned ownership of the Castle over to the University. According to Associate Treasurer Christopher Mason, the University is required by the terms of the agreement to provide Psi Upsilon with another property and pay for any moving costs if the fraternity ever lost the Castle. If they would have been recognized, then, Psi Upsilon would have had the option of moving into the vacant building located at 3609-11 Locust Walk if the Castle was not available. And because the Community Service Living Learning Program will be housed in the Castle once again next year, it is possible that housing would have been an issue once the chapter colonized. One way to avoid the issue of where the fraternity would be housed is to simply not grant recognition to Psi Upsilon. This is exactly what the University did. Both the University and fraternity denied that the issue of ownership of the Castle had any effect on the decision, however. In fact, Williams said he will need to contact OFSA soon to "identify differences" between Psi Upsilon and the University before deciding whether or not to seek recognition again next semester. GAC Chairperson Andrea Dobin said her organization was concerned with whether Psi Upsilon belonged back on campus and not where they would live if they were allowed back. Williams said since the University Council is involved in litigation and not GAC or the IFC, he does not suspect that the decision about recognition was affected by the litigation. Despite both parties' insistence that the litigation over the Castle was not a factor in the decision, it seems that problems plagued the fraternity at every turn in the reapplication process. Psi Upsilon's reapplication process was marred with several instances of misunderstandings and lapses in communication between the University and the fraternity. Williams said he thinks the fraternity followed all the proper procedures in the reapplication process. Dobin said, however, that Psi Upsilon did not "have all their ducks in a row" when they came before GAC to make their presentation. According to a statement sent to the national headquarters of the fraternity, GAC's major concern was that Psi Upsilon had not "taken overt measures to ensure the clear separation between the old members and the new." A group of former Psi Upsilon members who call themselves the "Owl Society" exists on campus, GAC said. Williams said he was not aware of such a group until GAC notified him of their existence. He added that Psi Upsilon would have excluded these former members from a new chapter. But nobody at the University gave the national headquarters a list of names of "Owl Society" members, he said. The IFC cited expansion concerns as its reason for denying Psi Upsilon's request. IFC president Hayden Horowitz said a new fraternity, Pi Kappa Phi, just joined the IFC last semester and that two fraternities which are on suspension, Pi Kappa Alpha and Theta Xi, are set to return sometime next year. Williams said the fraternity did not receive a copy of the IFC's expansion policy until February of this year despite having been in contact with OFSA Director Tricia Phaup since last August. Another communication lapse occurred between Psi Upsilon and the IFC, as well. Horowitz said an expansion committee usually would be formed to hear presentations from a fraternity seeking recognition from the IFC. By the time a representative from Psi Upsilon had come to Philadelphia to meet with GAC in February, a committee had still not been formed, Horowitz said. So Horowitz heard Psi Upsilon's presentation and then the expansion committee was formed. The committee eventually recommended to deny Psi Upsilon's request for provisional recognition. Williams said the issue of the litigation and the issue of recognition are and should be separate and that he is more concerned with getting Psi Upsilon back on campus then whether or not they would return to the Castle. "We could organize the chapter without the Castle," he said. "I'd be more than happy to do that." It would seem that the University doesn't think so.

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