Sorority Deemed 'Unconstitutional'

(originally published November 19, 2007 in the Point Weekly)
by Phillip Moyer

Greek life almost made a comeback this year. In September, the ASB Board of Directors accepted a charter for an on-campus organization proposed by the sorority Alpha Kappa Alpha, a community service-oriented sorority noted for being the first sorority established by black college women.

The charter was approved despite concerns that the officers for the proposed organization were not PLNU students.

“There’s nothing really explicit in the constitution or any handbook … and there’s nothing that says that’s something you can’t do, so we decided to go forward with the chartering process,” said Jeff Nelson, the director of Student Relations.

After the organization was chartered, however, Melissa Burt-Gracik, director of Community Life and the adviser to the ASB Board of Directors, brought forward complaints raised by an anonymous staff member.

“There were rumors about how Alpha Kappa Alpha might be more OK with drinking and things that would be looked down upon at Point Loma,” said Nelson.

Other concerns raised included the lack of control PLNU would have over the organization’s activities, since none of the organization’s officers were PLNU students, said Nelson.

The staff member was also concerned about a 2002 lawsuit filed against AKA, which alleged that the sorority was responsible for hazing that resulted in the death of two of its pledges, even though the sorority’s official policy forbids hazing.

Also, there were worries about previous attempts to establish AKA on campus.

“I felt a little unease because last year one of the Alpha Kappa Alpha people … was trying to push [the AKA charter] ahead without any kind of student initiative whatsoever, and that’s not how we start clubs here,” said Burt-Gracik. “We start clubs by students coming forward and saying, ‘This is a need; this is a desire; we want to make this happen.’”

A representative of AKA could not be reached for comment.

“Due to the circumstances, in order to bring about what should happen and kind of to appease everyone, we decided to take it in front of the Board of Review,” Nelson said.

The Board of Review met to discuss the issue on Oct. 2 and decided in a 4-2 vote that chartering the organization was unconstitutional. The written decision stated that the wording of the ASB constitution implies that “all members of clubs and organizations, as well as their leaders, must be under the umbrella of the Associated Student Body.” The decision cited Article I of the ASB constitution, which reads, “The name of this organization shall be ‘The Associated Student Body.’”

The two dissenting members in the Board of Review challenged this claim, saying, “We believe that the wording of the Constitution in no way seems to discourage the ASB from sanctioning outside leadership, based on the fact that it is simply not addressed. We believe that the ASB is potentially depriving students of a valuable off-campus networking resource by establishing this precedent for future organizations.”

One of the dissenters was Ben Powers, the chair of the Board of Review.

“I believe that one of the things you sacrifice by choosing a small private school, as opposed to a larger institution, is the opportunity to network more,” Powers said. “In my opinion, the school should encourage ties to organizations that could be a great networking tool for many students. A lot of college grads maintain ties with fellow members of their sorority or fraternity that help them later in their careers.”

The Board of Review’s decision was then presented to the Board of Directors, which decided how to handle the ruling.

“The ASB Board of Directors only has jurisdiction to do anything that’s in the ASB constitution,” said Powers, who added that, since the original chartering of the organization was unconstitutional, the charter “ceased to be recognized by the office of student relations and ASB.”

However, for students who wish to become members of the sorority, there are plans in motion to create an AKA “interest group” officiated by PLNU students.

“It’s not that [PLNU] students cannot be Alpha Kappa Alpha members,” said Burt-Gracik. “If our students who gather together on their own initiative try to become Alpha Kappa Alpha members, then great for them. We just can’t have non-PLNU students as officers in a school-recognized club.”