Four anonymous, “prospective members” and one current brother of Theta Tau have filed affidavits in a lawsuit against Syracuse University that claim videos published by The Daily Orange show a “Pledge Porno” that took place in the fraternity’s basement in March.

Complaint (Efiled) (S0781159xD51F6) by michaelburke47 on Scribd

The complaint was filed in federal court on Tuesday by the Syracuse-based law firm Smith, Sovik, Kendrick & Sugnet on behalf of the students, who are named in court documents as John Doe 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5. Most of the students used information in John Doe 1’s affidavit as part of their own affidavits.

John Doe 1 claims that on March 30 new members of Theta Tau were scheduled to present a “Pledge Porno” in the basement of the fraternity’s house on Harrison Street.

A fraternity member recorded the “Pledge Porno” for members who could not attend the roast, an affidavit from John Doe 1 states. The D.O. obtained and published recordings of the videos, which were originally posted in a secret Facebook group called Tau of Theta Tau.

“The Roast is a time-honored Chapter tradition that builds unity by satirically and hyperbolically depicting brothers,” the lawsuit states.

In one video, a person asks another person on his knees to repeat an “oath” of racial slurs.

“I solemnly swear to always have hatred in my heart for n*ggers, sp*cs and most importantly the f*ckin’ k*kes,” the person on his knees repeats.

John Doe 1 claims that “the member portraying the ‘pledge’ taking the oath in the skit was Jewish.”

“Everyone present also understood the comic irony of having a Jewish member say he had ‘hatred’ in his heart for ‘k*kes,’” John Doe 1 claims.

The entire focus of this “skit” was to “create caricatures and exaggerate to be outrageous,” John Doe 1’s affidavit states. In one recording filmed in Theta Tau’s basement, a person sits down in a rolling chair and a different person yells, “He’s drooling out of his mouth, because he’s retarded in a wheelchair.”

John Doe 1 claims that was an effort to demonstrate how “whipped” one Theta Tau member was by giving him a “‘disability’ that does not exist,” becoming “‘brain-dead’ because of his girlfriend.”

“No member of the chapter published the offensive language and conduct in the video for public consumption,” John Doe 5 states in his affidavit. “There is no suggestion, let alone proof, that any member of the Chapter has ever engaged in the parodied conduct or used the offense language as portrayed in the video outside of this single incident which occurred in the privacy of our Chapter house with no persons present who were not members.”

In John Doe 5’s affidavit, he states that he has been advised by Director of Student Legal Services Christopher Burke that SU is breaking, “‘every rule in the book which they wrote themselves.’”

A university spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.

John Doe 5 claims that Burke was confused as to what kinds of suspensions the Theta Tau students were under. Department of Public Safety Chief Bobby Maldonado previously said that 18 students have been removed from “academic participation” as part of the university’s Theta Tau investigation.

Theta Tau was initially suspended last Wednesday and permanently expelled on Saturday after Chancellor Kent Syverud said SU had confirmed that Theta Tau was involved in the circulation of videos showing fraternity members engaging in behaviors that were “extremely racist, anti-Semitic, homophobic, sexist, and hostile to people with disabilities.”

Several protests have been planned around campus in response to the Theta Tau videos.
Kai Nguyen | Photo Editor

In one of the affidavits, John Doe 1 claims that his request for a postponement of his informal resolution meeting was denied by SU’s Office of Student Rights and Responsibilities. John Doe 1 filed the request partly because of the “pressure of the end-of-semester schedule,” he states in his affidavit. He also states that SU has placed him and other students in a “quasi-suspension.”

In the affidavit, John Doe 1 also claims that SU is pursuing an “expedited” procedure “designed to avoid providing due process” to the students under investigation.

Dolan Evanovich, the university’s senior vice president for enrollment and the student experience, said during a press briefing on Monday that the student judicial process for the Theta Tau investigation will be an “expedited and fair process” that should take two weeks to complete.

John Doe 1 also claims that the university through DPS and the Office of Residence Life, “took no disciplinary action or other steps against students event Chapter members reported being openly threatened with bodily harm.” DPS vehicles have been parked outside of Theta Tau’s house since its initial suspension last Wednesday.

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MORE COVERAGE:

• Second Theta Tau video shows mimed sexual assault of person with disabilities
• SU will not publicly release names of students in Theta Tau investigation
• Complaints filed against 18 people present at Theta Tau event
• Multicultural Greek organizations find inspiration for activism in Theta Tau videos

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Published on April 25, 2018 at 7:28 pm

Contact Sam: sfogozal@syr.edu | @SamOgozalek