One lawsuit filed by students involved in the Theta Tau controversy reached a ruling this week, while another has not moved forward since October.

Several lawsuits were filed last year following the suspension of students involved in the creation of the Theta Tau videos released in April 2018.

Jefferson County Supreme Court Judge James McClusky ruled last week that Syracuse University “complied with (its) procedures” when it suspended 10 students involved in the videos. The students sued SU in Jefferson County court last year, asking the judge to lift their suspensions. Their attorneys said that SU didn’t follow its rules, defined in the Code of Student Conduct, when suspending the students.

The university initially suspended 18 students in connection to the videos, but McClusky allowed at least two students involved in the suit to return to SU for the fall 2018 semester. The students were allowed to enroll in classes after McClusky ruled SU couldn’t enforce disciplinary actions against students before a hearing on Sept. 19. The two students who enrolled in classes were found guilty of “serious violations” of SU’s Code of Student Conduct.

An attorney representing the students in the Jefferson County lawsuit told Syracuse.com the students plan to appeal the judge’s decision. Students in both lawsuits are being represented by Kevin Hulslander, Karen Felter and David Katz, attorneys at the Syracuse-based branch of Smith, Sovik, Kendrick and Sugnet.

McClusky also dismissed a lawsuit filed by SU’s chapter of Theta Tauin October asking SU to reverse its expulsion of the chapter from the university.

The university permanently expelled its chapter of Theta Tau in April after members of the fraternity uploaded videos to a secret Facebook page, which showed several students engaging in activities that SU Chancellor Kent Syverud called “extremely racist, anti-Semitic, homophobic, sexist, and hostile to people with disabilities.”

A lawsuit filed in federal court hasn’t seen any legal action since last year. The federal lawsuit was filed anonymously by several students asking for $1 million each in damages as well as the reversal of their suspensions.

SU last filed a motion in October 2018 asking the federal court to dismiss the lawsuit. The court has not yet responded.

Published on January 13, 2019 at 10:11 pm

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