Jewish students of Chapman University, a small liberal arts school in Southern California, have been fighting for more than two years with campus administration for acceptance of a Jewish fraternity, which has been unjustifiably rejected. Notably, key administrators of the university -- the men responsible for the denial -- are Jews. Eighteen interested Jewish students were turned down in favor of the campus' eleventh Gentile based Greek (fraternity/sorority) organization which had no student interest at the time. After turning the Jewish students down, the administrator sent a letter forbidding them from meeting on campus or "intermingling" with other fraternities or sororities. This admonishment letter was then sent to the leadership of the entire Greek community, which may be a federal violation of privacy rights. JDL believes community pressure is necessary to convince the university it is wrong to treat Jewish students as second class citizens. While administrators are quick to point out that the school hosts a Holocaust educational forum, through its mistreatment of these Jewish students Chapman University is sending an unambiguous message that Jews are not welcome members of the campus community.

For background on the controversy, read excerpts from Derek Olson’s article as published in the OCWeekly on May 10, 2007:

“Early in 2006, 18 students at Chapman University were looking forward to starting their own fraternity.

“Pascal DeMaria and his best friend Cameron Clark recruited a strong group of potential members and were gearing up for the first fraternity expansion at the expensive private school in six years. School administrators listened to their plan and seemed open to the idea. They would start the first Jewish frat at Chapman, a chapter of Sigma Alpha Mu—a national fraternity known colloquially as the Sammy."

“The students say they were told that if they went through the proper channels, they would be rewarded when expansion time came around in the fall. They had a lot going for them: They already had enough members to have a strong presence on campus, and they would be the first culturally based fraternity, which are staples at larger schools."

“Now, about a year and a half later, Sigma Alpha Mu exists on the fringes of campus life. Not only did DeMaria, Clark and friends not get their charter, but they are also forbidden from advertising or holding social events with other fraternities and sororities. Just mentioning the fraternity’s existence or affiliation with the school could get a member suspended. They’ve even been ordered to remove a group formed on the college social-networking website Facebook.

After their promising beginning, the Sammy saga at Chapman degenerated into a cacophony of accusations, admonishments and acrimony. The actions of one top school administrator toward the aspiring frat boys are the subject of a formal complaint made to the Department of Education, alleging a violation of federal student privacy laws. . ." (read full article)

The Jewish Defense League entered the picture after being contacted by a close personal friend of the students involved. Here are JDL's main recommendations taken from the letter sent by Chairman Shelley Rubin to school administrators:

First and foremost, Dean Kertes needs to apologize publicly to the prospective members of Sigma Alpha Mu for not respecting their privacy as outlined by the U.S. Department of Education's Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act. These young people instead should be commended for trying to bring diversity to the Chapman campus. Dr. Kertes made them the objects of ridicule and scorn from their fellow students by releasing personal information through a letter of condemnation. This is totally unacceptable behavior from any school administrator.

Next, Chapman University must immediately recognize Sigma Alpha Mu as a legitimate fraternity and work with them -- not against them -- so they can become part of the Chapman Greek system. This recognition will show that Chapman is a university that meets the needs of its students. To base selection of a fraternity not on resident student interest but rather on an arbitrary and inconsequential standard of national presentation is patently unfair to the students attending the university. (It is also a violation of the National Interfraternity Conference standards: "The host institution's Interfraternity Council may not deter expansion by withholding membership of NIC group from IFC" (Section 2 (4)).