Georgia Tech on Wednesday lifted its suspension of a fraternity accused of yelling racial slurs at a black student, after a former chief judge of the Georgia Supreme Court said the punishment was out of line with the university’s policies.
But former justice Leah Ward Sears noted in her findings released Wednesday that the university did give Phi Delta Theta fraternity due process in the investigation of the incident and in the appeals process.
Last August, a black student accused members of the fraternity of shouting the slurs at her from windows of their fraternity house. The chapter was found responsible for violating the student conduct code provisions on discrimination, and was given a "suspension in abeyance," which limited the fraternity to academic activities and required members to undergo training. The fraternity claimed there was no evidence the incident occurred, appealed the punishment and charged that the school did not provide a fair process for investigating the allegation.
The handling of the fraternity incident, along with Tech's handling of students accused of sexual assault, has been the subject of criticism by some state lawmakers concerned about the university's due process for students.
Sears’ review of the fraternity case process, findings and sanctions found that there was sufficient evidence for a student disciplinary panel to conclude that the August incident had occurred, according to review documents released Wednesday.
Sears also noted that Georgia Tech’s policy doesn’t allow punishment of a whole organization unless it can be proven that the leaders were complicit in the actions. The undergraduate judicial panel found that the fraternity’s leadership was not complicit.
Despite recommending the sanctions be lifted, “it is important to recognize that race-based discriminatory acts or practices have no place at Georgia Tech where students should be able to learn and engage in activities without the disquietude of prejudice and intolerance,” Sears said in a letter to Georgia Tech president Bud Peters about the findings. “It is also crucial to call attention to the importance of fraternities policing the behavior of its members.”
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