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Well, Joe, let me tell you something about the First Amendment.

This should be good. Any time someone on a message board is about to tell you something about the first amendment, Baby Jesus cries at the sight of the mind-bogglingly bad interpretation of one of our most precious documents that is probably about to come forth.

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Rights to free association exist so that people can only be punished for actually committing crimes, and so that assembling for non-criminal activity can't become a crime in itself.

It's a good thing you're not being charged with any crimes, then. Of course, if you assemble on or enter the campus' private property after they've expelled you for belonging to a fraternity, that'd probably be a crime.

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However, I can understand your ethos: most tyrannies have established consequences for "free" association in organizations that are not endorsed and run by the tyrants in power.

I can't hold my fraternity meetings at the local McDonalds', either -- it's their sandbox, and they can tell me what to do when I'm playing in it.

The tyranny of McDonald's! The horror!

A university is a business, like any other. They have the right to tell you, in your business dealings, what you have to do in order to keep dealing with them.

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As far as whether the school WANTS fraternities, their mission is to educate the students in science and literature. It says so in their charter. What students do outside of class, and off campus, should be none of their business, so long as it is not totally heinous.

Good point! Outside activities have no bearing on scholastic achievement. Did you really have a straight face when writing that?

And secondly, isn't it *their* prerogative to decide what they feel is the best way to educate students in math and science?

And frankly, what about their other students? I know that I really enjoy being able to study at Georgetown with the knowledge that fraternities are mostly-banned from actually existing on campus. It serves my "education in science and literature" quite nicely.

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And people shouldn't be held accountable as a group for crimes they never even committed.

By the government? Certainly not. By private companies? They can do whatever they damn well please to their clients in that area.

Ever seen the Seinfeld episode? The one with the Soup Nazi?

Best soup in town, but you must scrupulously obey draconian rules while you're on his turf to get it?

Universities are often like that. And if you don't like that, you're very free not to attend or to transfer.

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Colgate might be able to legally do away with the first amendment on campus, even though they promise to support student rights,

They are supporting student rights. This isn't something you have a right to do. Or else, they couldn't legally do away with it, now could they?

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but the purpose of the first amendment is to be a safeguard for what people would want to ban on moral grounds.

The purpose of the first amendment is to restrain the government. And as the old quote about "These are my principles and if you don't like them.. Well, I have others" reminds us, we've had amendments to the constitution in the past to *ban alcohol entirely* (Except for Jewish religious functions! Jews win at the game of life once again, woohoo).

Given that, it's kind of a hard sell to tell me that the framers were really all about protecting college fraternities.

The issue at Colgate is more than protecting a 150-year tradition of Greek life. It's more than respecting half of the alumni who enjoy Greek membership and a third of the current undergraduates who are pledged to a fraternity or sorority.

The fight at Colgate is also about respecting private property rights. It's about respecting a promise made to students that they are free to assemble lawfully. The college has made a coercive land-grab in threatening to ban any sorority or fraternity who didn't sell their house, and further threatening any students who participates in a banned chapter with suspension or expulsion.

Their bullying tactics are both illegal and unethical. Clothed in a cape of political correctness, the trustees are hiding their real objective - control of the valuable land that surrounds the campus and control of young adults outside the classroom. A radical faculty believes it's their duty to mold young minds to their vision, and the camaraderie, inter-generational mentoring and life-long networks created in Greek life undermine their control.

Joe - you imply you're glad that Greek life is almost banned at Georgetown. How do you rate your tolerance for diversity?