By Brett Billings ’12

Interim Dean of Students Jodie Frey formally withdrew charges against Delta Upsilon fraternity this past Monday after determining a search of a student room that turned up alcohol “was not in complete accordance with current procedure.” Only three fraternities are now on probation.

Currently, “no written code” exists for the alcohol patrols that police Lafayette’s Greek houses, according to Director of Public Safety Hugh Harris.

In the early morning hours of February 4, Officer Carl Faulkner and Patrolman Craig Marshall entered a room considered a common area in search of “unattended alcohol.” The door to the room was left open. A bottle of alcohol was found inside a fridge, according to incident reports. In the common area, another door leading to a student room was left open as well. There, they discovered another bottle of alcohol on a student desk.

Harris indicated one of the two officers involved in the February 4 search had not been with Public Safety very long. The other officer has been at Lafayette a number of years.

Originally, President of DU Alec Eidelman ‘13 had admitted the group violation and chose to request a member of the Dean’s staff take whatever action deemed appropriate. The Lafayette chapter of DU maintains their alcohol policy is actually stricter than college policy — no alcohol being allowed in the house.

“My first reaction was to not question the decision of PSafe,” Eidelman said. But after speaking with alumni and others, he reconsidered. “This didn’t seem right.”

“Should we have locks on our fridges?” Eidelman said. The fraternity appealed Frey’s decision maintaining that the search violated their “constitutional and contractual rights of the students involved and all residents of the Delta Upsilon house.” The house, 750A Sullivan Road, is owned by the college. Eidelman maintains the members involved in the incident will be disciplined by the fraternity.

The Report of the Working Group on Greek Life and Campus Community lists repeated alcohol violations as “the primary reason groups receive sanctions from the Dean of Students or from the Committee on Student Conduct.”

Currently, the Implementation and Assessment Group on Greek Life (IAGGL) has been charged to “establish clear and measurable metrics” for Greek life. If these measures are not met in the three-year period allotted by the Board of Trustees, then Greek life may be eliminated from Lafayette.