Following several high profile cases of fraternities across the nation behaving in ways that reflect badly on their host colleges and universities, members of the Fraternal Government Relations Coalition are considering lobbying members of the U.S. Congress to enact systems that would prohibit, or slow down, investigations and punishments for behavior a college would see as inappropriate.
The story was first reported by the Huffington Post, who posted a portion of a conference call from Feb. 2, that addressed how cases of fraternity misbehavior should be addressed primarily through the legal system.
Buddy Cote, chairman of the North-American Interfraternity Conference, spoke on the call addressing the issues and made the suggestion that universities are not equipped to handle full investigations into cases where fraternities may be breaking laws, insisting that action should not be taken against a fraternity or one of its members until after processing through the criminal justice system.
“I’m very, very strongly inspired tonight to address two key topics one of which is the student right to due process,” Cote said. “We all hold these vital vital pieces of our constitutional rights very dear to ourselves as well as to our organizations.”
Cote suggested that the criminal justice system should take the lead in investigations in most cases, especially with serious crimes of rape and sexual assault, before a college issues action. He said he believes this is the best way to preserve the rights of the accused.
“We believe that many colleges and universities are ill-equipped to handle these complex cases, while preserving the rights of all students,” Cote said. “In order to better protect the due process rights of our greek students in these campus judicial proceedings we believe that the cases really should be deferred until the completion of the criminal investigation and any subsequent trial.”
He continued suggesting that a college investigation alone may strip due process rights, such as the required burden of proof and the right to council that would be required in a criminal investigation.
The Huffington Post also reported that colleges and universities had launched at least 100 investigations into alleged hazing, date-rape drugging and sexual assault, but the actually number is likely much higher due to under-reporting.