UPDATED: July 16, 2018 at 9:52 p.m.

An attorney defending Syracuse University in a lawsuit anonymously filed by five students connected to the Theta Tau videos filed a motion on Monday to require the students’ names be publicly released in court documents.

The motion, if granted by a judge, would reveal the identities of five SU students who participated in the creation of the videos that led to the Theta Tau fraternity’s April expulsion. SU has declined to publicly name the 18 students charged with conduct violations in connection to the videos, citing federal privacy laws. The suit filed against the university refers to the five students only as “John Doe.”

The students include four prospective Theta Tau members and one fraternity brother who anonymously filed a lawsuit against SU in April. They claimed that the university rushed to label them as “criminals” in an attempt to “malign the students personally” to salvage its reputation, court records show. The students are seeking more than $1,000,000 in damages each, according to the lawsuit.   

The suit came shortly after the university expelled the Greek organization for its involvement in videos Chancellor Kent Syverud called “extremely racist, anti-Semitic, homophobic, sexist, and hostile to people with disabilities.” The fraternity said the videos depicted a “satirical sketch.”

SU, Syverud, College of Engineering and Computer Science Dean Teresa Dahlberg, Dean of Students Robert Hradsky and Office of Student Rights and Responsibilities Director Pamela Peter are named as defendants in the lawsuit.

John Powers, the attorney for SU, filed the motion calling on a judge to require that the students “correct” court documents to reflect their real names, rather than the “John Doe” pseudonym, court records show. The university’s counsel argued “the public has a substantial interest in the transparency of legal proceedings” and that the students’ “desire to limit their association with videos that may cause them embarrassment does not outweigh that interest,” according to court records.  

SU’s counsel also claimed the students should be publicly named because they are not at risk of harm, the students admitted their identities had already been revealed and the lawsuit is not of highly personal nature, among other things, according to court records.

Powers initially filed a letter motion with United States Magistrate Judge David Peebles on June 14 seeking a court conference to discuss his request to require student identification, according to court filings. Peebles denied the phone conference request but allowed Powers to submit the motion on Monday.

Karen Felter, one of the attorneys representing the five students involved in the Theta Tau videos, said in a letter to Peebles on June 15 that SU’s counsel rejected her offer to provide the names of the students under a stipulation and protective order, which would have shielded the names from public view. She argued SU already has enough information to identify the students and that the students have a substantial right to privacy.

Felter did not respond to a request for comment on this story. Powers referred all questions about the case to Sarah Scalese, SU’s associate vice president for university communications, who did not respond to a request for comment.

Fifteen SU students are facing suspensions of up to two years in connection to the videos, which were filmed in the Theta Tau house in late March. SU determined at least one student violated multiple sections of the Code of Student Conduct, Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs Policy and Anti-Harassment Policy, according to court records. Fourteen students are appealing their suspensions, per court filings. 

The Daily Orange released recordings of two videos in April, which circulated nationally and sparked campus-wide protests.

In one video, a person forces another person to his knees and asks him to repeat an “oath” including 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.

Later, a person uses anti-Semitic language while yelling at two other people.

“You f*ckin’ k*kes, get in the f*ckin’ showers,” he says, and the two people run out of the room as others laugh.

In another recording, 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.”

Counsel for both SU and the students will appear in court Thursday to debate the students’ motion for a preliminary injunction. A judge will also hear arguments on whether to allow the students to amend their complaint.

This post has been updated with additional reporting. 

Published on June 21, 2018 at 9:41 am

Contact Jordan: jmulle01@syr.edu | @jordanmuller18