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Those same sources also reaffirmed their support for President Thrasher personally, and expressed agreement with his desire to reform the more extreme behaviors of college life and a deep hope that Thrasher is not mandating this draconian approach and will lead with a much more reasonable one.

At the same time they noted that the indefinite suspension more than likely violates the Constitutional rights of adult students attending FSU.  The rights of all students should include due process, freedom of association, freedom of speech and assembly.  FSU Greeks had long lost the right of due process, now they face the elimination of even more fundamental Constitutional guarantees, singly as a class.

Unfortunately, Dr Hecht seems bent on imposing unreasonable if not un-Constitutional demands designed to crush the Greeks financially and make continuing operations practically impossible.

One attendee said “The proposals presented today by Dr. Hecht are not just arduous; they’re punitive and destructive in the extreme. If imposed, the market will speak and there will be no more Greeks at FSU.”

“We trusted President Thrasher and joined with him to work to change the culture to make our chapters safer and better, even though we felt the broad suspension was unfair to our chapters who had done nothing wrong. We now can only hope that the President will intervene quickly and present a fair proposal.”

The alternative will require tough decisions.

“We feel we have been betrayed”

The two initial meetings on Tuesday were polite, but most Greek representatives left the meetings stunned by the breadth and depth of the demands, as well as the deeply restrictive aspects of every individual tenant proposed. The word “Draconian” was a common description used by the participants.

Some who claimed to have been working with FSU since the start of the suspension felt a tremendous sense of betrayal. “We worked with the University in good faith.  That good faith was not returned, and it’s been thrown back in our faces.”

Time will tell if FSU is serious about working with the Greek community to make it better, or simply intends to impose authoritarian controls over every aspect of the system and its members.

USA Herald will provide ongoing coverage of this saga.  Stay tuned for further updates.