Four fraternities at the University of Maryland have filed a lawsuit against the university and officials for the suspension of Greek activity on campus, calling the suspension a freedom of speech violation.
The University of Maryland has lifted the suspension of fraternity and sorority activity on campus for 32 chapters, clearing them to return to normal activities, the university announced Friday evening.
“Effective immediately, we are lifting the temporary pause on new member and alcohol-related activities, and related no-contact orders which the university issued on March 1, 2024. Thirty-two IFC and PHA chapters are cleared to return to normal activities,” the university said in a statement.
Five chapters remain under investigation “as a result of evidence suggesting involvement in hazing or other incidents that threatened the health and safety of our campus community,” the statement read.
The school did not name the chapters it’s still investigating. WTOP has reached out to the school for the chapters it’s still investigating.
The university released a list of chapters cleared to return to normal activities, which includes all 16 sororities affiliated with the Panhellenic Association. There are five fraternities listed on U.Md’s Interfraternity Council website that do not appear on the list of fraternities cleared by the school.
Those fraternities are listed below:
- Kappa Alpha Order
- Lambda Chi Alpha
- Phi Sigma Kappa
- Sigma Nu
- Zeta Beta Tau
The five chapters that haven’t been cleared will continue to be subject to limited restrictions on their activities, according to the university, which added that individual students will also be referred to the Office of Student Conduct for potential violations of the Code of Student Conduct.
Earlier this week, four fraternities filed a lawsuit against the university, saying the recent suspension of fraternity and sorority activity on the campus violates the groups’ freedom of speech and that an investigation into reportedly unsafe activities is unlawful.
The lawsuit, filed Wednesday, represents three “John Does” who belong to fraternities on campus and asks for an injunction from the federal court for the District of Maryland that would immediately end the university’s suspension. It also asks for the court to declare that the suspension is unconstitutional and put a temporary restraining order in place against the university president and student affairs leadership, according to court documents.
University officials sent a letter to fraternity and sorority presidents informing them of a suspension for misconduct on March 1. They did not describe the alleged misconduct as hazing but instead referred to “activities that have threatened the safety and well-being of members of the University community.”
The suspension applies to all organizations affiliated with the College Park campus’ Interfraternity Council and Panhellenic Council, which represent 21 fraternities and 16 sororities.
Fraternities and sororities are barred from any contact with new or prospective members, and barred from hosting any events where alcohol is present, according to the letter.
The letter said the suspension will be in place indefinitely while the investigation took place.
The lawsuit states that this suspension not only restrained students’ free speech and freedom of association, but that the university was breaking their own Code of Student Conduct.
The code says students accused of misconduct must be notified “of the allegations and specific policies they are alleged to have violated,” have access to the evidence of their misconduct and have an opportunity to respond.
The lawsuit alleges that none of these actions were taken and students have been under “unconstitutional restraint” indefinitely during the university’s investigation.
Wynn Smiley, a spokesperson for the Fraternity Forward Coalition, called the university’s investigation “outrageous” in an interview with NBC Washington.
“I’ve never seen a host institution behave in this manner,” he said. “This is egregious behavior.”
According to NBC Washington, a spokesperson says the school expects to update its campus community Friday on the status of the investigation.
The University of Maryland and Office of the President did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A federal judge will hear the request for the restraining order on Monday.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Thomas Robertson
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