A lawsuit brought by a group of Greek life organizations against the University of Maryland was thrown out by a judge, court documents show.

The lawsuit was filed after 21 fraternities and 16 sororities were temporarily suspended in March 2024. The suspension was prompted by reports of unsafe activities like hazing, according to the university.

The ban on activities involving alcohol and recruitment was lifted for most of the organizations a few weeks later. However, five chapters remained under investigation after evidence of hazing was discovered, the university said.

Organizations sue UMD over investigation

During the suspension, a group of several fraternities and one sorority filed a lawsuit against UMD, accusing university leaders of violating their rights.

The group alleged that the university illegally searched students' phones and did not allow them to request lawyers.

According to court documents, students were asked about underage drinking during the investigation but were not told about any specific allegations.

The lawsuit further alleged that the university's ban on certain Greek life activities violated due process. The group demanded that the university reverse the suspension.

During an interview with WJZ, university officials said they had "no knowledge of any individual being asked to turn over their phone." 

In dismissing the lawsuit, the judge said it's extremely unlikely that UMD would have to issue the ban on Greek life again. 

"That crisis is over, and Greek life continues at the University," the judge said in court documents.

Support for Greek life ban

Despite the lawsuit, others expressed support for the temporary ban and follow-up investigation, including the father of a Virginia Commonwealth University student who died after being hazed.

"We just want the kids to love one another and care for each other and don't harm each other," Eric Oakes said. "It's ridiculous the things they're doing, acting like making someone drink an entire bottle of whiskey is going to make you closer to brotherhood."

Eric's son, Adam Oakes, died of alcohol poisoning while pledging. 

Dr. Patty Perillo, the Vice President for Student Affairs at the University of Maryland, College Park, defended the university's ban. 

"It was the right decision with the information we had in that moment," she said shortly after the ban was lifted in March 2024. 

"...because the allegations came in over a six-day period, some of them were anonymous, so we couldn't identify specifically which chapters, we knew that we needed to…create the pause for all of them," Perillo said. 

The university shared documents that showed an increase in Greek life members seeking counseling between January 2024 and February 2024, along with a 36% increase in visits to the University's health center. 

Greek life group responds

The Fraternity Forward Coalition represented the group of Greek life organizations in the lawsuit.

"The judge rightly acknowledged that the fraternities who bravely defended their members' constitutional rights achieved our desired goal when the university dropped its overreaching order," Fraternity Forward Coalition spokesperson Wynn Smiley said in a statement.

Smiley said UMD lifting its ban after the lawsuit was filed shows that "The university was not willing to test the legality of its order in open court."

"We're heartened to learn that 14 months later, no other institution has decided to replicate these unjust methods, which included prohibiting students from speaking with each other, seizing their cell phones and, under threat of professional and academic repercussions, coerce their participation in a senseless interrogation that did nothing to make students safer on campus," Smiley added.

WJZ reached out to the University of Maryland for a statement.