Hanover
The Hanover Zoning Board of Adjustment ruled on Monday that, despite the fraternity’s loss of recognition from the college, its status as a student residence could be considered “grandfathered.”
All the same, the decision won’t necessarily lead to the fraternity brothers’ moving back into their $1.3 million mansion at 38 College St., because Dartmouth has a separate policy that forbids students from living in unrecognized Greek-letter residences.
The Greek-letter organization commonly known as SAE was the subject of a high-profile Rolling Stone article in 2012 that featured accusations of hazing. Although those allegations were not substantiated, this year SAE’s national organization suspended the chapter’s charter, citing “hazing and the use of alcohol.”
When SAE lost its national charter, it also lost its affiliation with Dartmouth.
Authorities have declined to file civil or criminal charges against the fraternity and its members.
It is not yet clear what will happen to SAE’s house, which sits in the middle of Dartmouth’s campus just east of Baker Library and which the fraternity owns through a corporation run by alumni. In the past, some fraternities have rented out their homes to other organizations after being banned from campus.
Neither fraternity officers nor college officials would comment on their plans for the property.
Lebanon resident Clark Griffiths, a 1957 alumnus and an SAE trustee, said the national fraternity and college administrators had “overreacted,” but said he couldn’t discuss what the corporation intended to do.
“Hopefully we can sustain the house and continue to operate,” he said.
A spokeswoman for Dartmouth said only that administrators were still reviewing the decision, which came about after SAE appealed a February determination by Hanover Zoning Administrator Judith Brotman that said the building’s zoning status had been tied to college recognition, and thus it could no longer house members there. Brotman had ordered SAE to vacate the property by March 15 or face daily fines of $275.
In the five-page ruling, the Hanover Zoning Board of Adjustment found that SAE had operated its facility independently from the college since before the relevant zoning ordinance took effect in 1976.
The ordinance says that an organization’s status as a student residence is dependent on its affiliation with Dartmouth, but SAE presented testimony from multiple former members saying that the fraternity had not relied on college services before the implementation of the regulation.
In Monday’s decision, the Zoning Board cited the case of Alpha Delta, the fraternity derecognized by Dartmouth last year after members burned brands into their skin. AD, as the group is known, also contended that it should be considered grandfathered — an argument the board rejected, 3-2.
The Zoning Board of Adjustment said AD, unlike SAE, had not successfully shown that the management of its house before 1976 had been independent of Dartmouth.
AD has appealed to Superior Court, and as of Tuesday, a judgment was still pending, according to Superior Court records.
Near the end of Monday’s decision, board members, who voted 5-0 in SAE’s favor, said that theirs was a limited ruling.
“In order to prevent misunderstandings, the Board wishes to emphasize how narrow our decision in this case is,” the document says. “First … it has zero relevance to any ‘student residence’ established after 1976. Moreover, it is conceivable that contrary evidence could be adduced if a party with standing to request a rehearing (such as the College itself) were to present such evidence. Finally, each case turns on its own evidence, and it is not our intent in this case to announce any broad general rule applicable to other fraternities.”
Rob Wolfe can be reached at rwolfe@vnews.com or at 603-727-3242.