Beta Theta Pi will not be allowed to participate in formal UCF recruitment this Fall, a Beta representative confirmed to KnightNews.com.
Florida’s Fifth District Court of Appeals today denied Beta’s motion to stay, which if granted would have allowed the group to recruit and operate like any other fraternity in good standing until the court’s final decision is made on the fraternity’s appeal.
The University of Central Florida suspended Beta for two years following allegations of sexual and other misconduct during an out of state trip. Beta denies its members committed any sexual misconduct, and has followed through on its promise to fight UCF’s decision in court.
A Beta representative confirmed the official appeal will now move through Florida’s Fifth District Court of Appeals, where a final decision in the case will be made.
Check back for continuous updates in this case, and refer to our previous article below to see why the court rejected one of UCF’s arguments in the case recently.
PREVIOUS ARTICLE FROM 8/21/09:
Court Rejects UCF’s Response in Beta Case
A decision about whether Beta Theta Pi will be allowed to recruit pledges at UCF — even though UCF found the fraternity in violation of sexual misconduct — could come down at any time now.
KnightNews.com confirmed exclusively today that a judge with Florida’s Fifth District Court of Appeals ordered UCF to explain why the fraternity should not be allowed to recruit and operate normally until the court’s final decision on Beta’s appeal of its two year suspension is reached.
Beta filed an appeal with the court to overturn UCF’s finding that the fraternity committed sexual misconduct. Along with the appeal, Beta filed a motion to stay, which asked the court to lift Beta’s suspension while the appeal is pending — in essense allowing the fraternity to operate like any other in good standing at UCF until the appeal is over.
According to court records, UCF refused to file a “meaningful and substantive” response to Beta’s motion to stay and “show cause why stay should not be granted.” Instead, UCF filed a response arguing that the court didn’t have the authority to even consider Beta’s 50 page motion.
The court rejected UCF’s argument and ordered the university to file a meaningful response by noon today at the latest.
KnightNews.com has confirmed that a UCF attorney delivered a response today and will continue closely monitoring this historic legal battle and the implications it may have on Beta’s fall rush and the future of the UCF student conduct process as a whole.
View the related posts on the top right to get caught up on the history of this case.
Check back for updates — and be sure to be our fan on facebook to stay connected with the latest breaking UCF news.
