COLLEGE PARK, Md. — Several fraternities at the University of Maryland say not only is the school violating its own code of conduct, but the constitution as well.
"I've been doing this for almost 30 years and this is the most egregious [way] I have ever seen a host institution conduct an investigation,” Wynn Smiley, CEO of Alpha Tau Omega, said.
Alpha Tau Omega is one of the fraternities that filed a complaint in federal court Wednesday against top University administrators, asking a federal judge to intervene.
Almost two weeks ago, the school suspended indefinitely most Greek life activity on campus after, according to the school, allegations of misconduct that threatened students' well-being and safety came to light.
But Smiley says students have been kept in the dark about what those allegations are.
“So they say they’ve heard rumors, and that’s why we keep asking for specific allegations and specific chapters. Two of the chapters that were initially targeted as I understand it, were actually told that the initial allegations against those chapters proved not to be true but you’re still going to be operating under the system-wide suspension. What we initially thought may be the issue, was dismissed by the University so actually, we have no idea. We keep asking, the students keep asking, and we’re met with silence.”
According to the University’s Student Code of Conduct: "Students have the right to be notified of the allegations and specific policies they are alleged to have violated, to have access to the information underlying the allegations."
Smiley says the suspension also violates the students' due process rights under the Fourteenth Amendment; and the "no contact order" between current chapter members and new recruits violates their First Amendment rights. The University sent out a letter a few days after the original "cease-and desist" order was sent on March 1, clarifying the "no contact order" did not apply to communications regarding UMD course-related work, employment operations, other UMD organizations and activities, and functions not related to the Greek-letter organization. Still, the fraternities in the federal court filing argue: "While the Amended Order is something less than a complete gag order, it is a content-based restriction on speech and an improper prior restraint on speech."
In the updated letter, the University told students: "The purpose behind this restriction is to implement a pause on new member activities while the University completes its investigation into widespread allegations of health and safety infractions in organizations' new member intake processes, and to help effectuate a prompt and effective investigation into such allegations. It is critical that the University preserve the credibility of student responses during the investigatory process. In sum, a reasoned and equitable resolution can be reached most quickly when its participants operate with clarity and are forthcoming. Recognizing this is a time of uncertainty and frustration for some, please be assured that the University intends to work swiftly to investigate the serious concerns which have been reported. We look forward to working with you in partnership to do that."
Most disturbing to Smiley, he says students are being subject to mandatory interviews with a third-party investigator hired by the school.
"And not allowing students to have any kind of representation in the room with them. They would only allow an advocate to listen in over the phone, and that advocate couldn't participate in the interview. And students were told if they chose not to come in for an interview, they would be subject to individual university discipline punishment,” he said.
After our interview we heard from Smiley: “We’ve learned from multiple students that investigators are demanding they turn over their cell phones so that they may scrutinize their text messages, calendars, and other private information."
Smiley characterized these tactics as a "fishing expedition" so the University can find specific allegations to justify the suspension, now that the initial rumors were proven untrue - according to what Smiley has learned.
"We don’t believe the University has any individual allegations. Now, what they’re able to find out in their fishing expedition with these individual interviews, we have no idea. But it appears to us the University is very vested - that they are going to find something. They have put a lot of their credibility in this whole process, and if they come up and say, 'eh, oh well,’ I just don’t think that is likely to happen. I have no idea what they could find, but once they have specific allegations with specific chapters or individual students, then the appropriate organization can respond. The way they’re going about it though is a complete violation of these students’ 1st Amendment and 14th Amendment rights.”
He predicts this will cause widespread mistrust between Greek organizations and administrators.
"One of our concerns is that moving forward, and we see that this is what happens when administrations take heavy-handed actions like this, is that students will be much less likely to self-report in the future if they see something that’s going on that they know shouldn’t be. They’re now much more likely to now not self-report because if they do, look what happened the last time."
He also warns of the precedent the University is setting with these actions.
"This also affects every other student on campus because of the administration is willing to do this with Greek students, there's no reason to believe that they wouldn't do this with any other student on campus. [...] And I think one of the reasons that we thought it was so important to ask a federal judge to intervene is because the precedent that this could set not only for the University of Maryland students, not just for the Greek system, but for all undergraduate students, but also every other institution of higher education."
"If you or I were put in a similar situation, we certainly wouldn’t tolerate it. It’s as though the police think someone in your neighborhood is possibly doing something illegal because they’re hearing rumors so they go and tell every resident in the neighborhood, all your activities in the neighborhood are suspended and we’re going to randomly interview people in your household, and oh by the way, if you choose not to participate, we’re going to put you in jail," Smiley continued.
Four fraternities and three anonymous students signed on to the federal court filing, asking the judge to lift the suspension, stop the interrogation, and reaffirm the students' rights. Plaintiffs are Alpha Psi Chapter of Theta Chi Fraternity, Beta Kappa Chapter of Kappa Alpha Order, Epsilon Delta Chapter of Alpha Sigma Phi Fraternity, Epsilon Gamma Chapter of Alpha Tau Omega Fraternity and anonymous students designated as "John Does."
In a press release from the Fraternity Forward Coalition, Smiley said: “Instead of teaching and promoting the First Amendment, the University of Maryland hoped it could intimidate students and prevent them from understanding that their constitutionally protected rights are being violated. They were mistaken. If the University of Maryland is willing to take such unwarranted and drastic action against thousands of fraternity and sorority students, it is naïve to assume all other students would not be subject to similar tactics. Therefore, we are prepared to pursue any and all legal remedies and restorative actions that allow Greek organizations to resume normal activities on campus and hold to account those who unlawfully violated students’ civil liberties.”
In a statement, the University of Maryland tells WMAR-2 News: "The University of Maryland expects to update its campus community tomorrow on the status of the investigation that was launched to prioritize the well-being of our students. We won't comment further on the recent court filing, other than to state that our process is in line with university policies and puts safety at the forefront."