Fraternity loses appeal of lawsuit against Colgate

An appeals court this week upheld interim state Supreme Court Judge Dennis McDermott's March 2006 dismissal of a fraternity lawsuit against Colgate University, saying the suit was filed after the time limit had expired.

The Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity sued Colgate in 2005 over the new housing policy, which required Greek-letter organizations to sell their Hamilton chapter houses to retain recognition for undergraduate chapters, because members must live in university-owned housing. DKE was the only Greek organization to not sell its house.

McDermott dismissed the case last year, saying that in addition to exceeding the four-month time limit to file lawsuits, Colgate is allowed to change policies at will and its actions surrounding the housing policy were legal. The appeals court this week ruled only that the suit was beyond the time limit. DKE attorney Tom Weincek said he would not appeal further.

Two other fraternity lawsuits over the housing policy were also dismissed by state Supreme Court judges.

DKE also filed a federal antitrust suit against Colgate that is currently awaiting a decision by U.S. District Court Judge Gary Sharpe.