Petition Against the Unfair Treatment of Greek Alumni

We, the affiliated alumni members of our respective organizations and West Virginia University students, implore that the administration of West Virginia University protect the rights of its students, Greek and non-Greek, to affiliate with whomever they personally deem fit on an individual basis. The Greek leadership panels of the Inter-fraternity Council and Panhellenic Council have greatly overstepped their boundaries by threatening members of the Greek community punishment if they are to affiliate themselves with groups of alumni from dismissed or disbanded organizations. This is fundamentally unjust and unfair. For a university council to determine whether it is fit for its constituents to associate with fellow students is intrinsically and inherently against our rights as students. The labeling of Greek alumni as “rogue” or “delinquent” must end. We urge that the black-labeling of groups of individuals be stopped and prevented for present and future generations. We are Mountaineers and most importantly, we are students above all.

Our concerns are as follow…

• Rules and punishments that are being enforced and enacted by the IFC and Panhellenic councils, both University sanctioned organizations, are strong-arming Greek organizations and suppressing the rights of students to choose who they are actively allowed to associate with. This precedent has not been set in the University’s recent history.
• IFC and Panhellenic cannot punish or enforce punishment of currently active Greek members for associating with certain individuals or groups of individuals based on the parameters at which their organization was dismissed.
• We are alumni, not members of a “rogue” or “delinquent” fraternity.
• We are most importantly students of this prestigious university, first and foremost.
• The University and Greek councils have demonstrated discrimination on multiple occasions.
• We have the same rights as Non-Greek students of the University, but have been black-labeled by the University and remain in a ‘limbo’ state of social status.
• Students (specified for the age of 18 or older) are adults with full rights as citizens and students of this University. Organizations cannot dismiss a member of an organization on the basis of affiliating with Greek alumni, who have no official relation with the University, with the exception of being students, or the Greek community.
• Students deserve and own the right to quintessentially decide who they affiliate with, not the University or any other university sanctioned organization or council.
• We seek to develop a resolution with the University to prevent any future incidences from reoccurring involving the discrimination and black-labeling of past, present and future Greek alumni regarding social status.