Friday was the last day for the alleged members of Tri Phi to appeal their sanctions to the university.

However, 17 of the 25 women have already filed a civil suit against Loyola, claiming that the university violated its own disciplinary procedures among other things. A main objective in the lawsuit is the imposition of a temporary restraining order that would prohibit the administration from enacting those sanctions which the lawsuit claims would “affect [the women’s] entire lives.”

History senior Kerry Flanagan, psychology junior Haley Hurst, communications junior Lauren Maia, sociology sophomore Jessica Retan and sociology junior Jessica Treadaway received letters sent out April 16 informing them that they would be expelled from Loyola “effective immediately,” according to court documents.

The documents also state that sociology sophomore Adrianne Golias and history sophomore Mary Kate Graefe would be suspended from the university for two years starting June 1.

Music business junior Monica Charlton, psychology sophomore Allison Murphy, mathematics junior Kacie Stillings and psychology junior Tiffany Ysidron received lesser sentences of one-year suspensions starting June 1, according to court records.

The final six plaintiffs – identified in court records as English writing junior Marissa Gonzalez, psychology juniors Nicolette Hamlin and Krystan Hosking, music sophomore Michelle Lewis, communications junior Andrea Narrow and English writing sophomore Casey Payne – were suspended for one semester starting Aug. 1.

None of the women can receive academic credit for coursework completed outside of Loyola during the time of their potential suspensions.

However, Associate Vice President of Student Affairs Vicki McNeil said that those sanctions will not necessarily be imposed immediately.

“If the student chooses to appeal, no sanctions go forth until the completion of the appeals process,” McNeil said. “In a sense, you could say they’re in limbo.”

In the lawsuit filed Tuesday, the 17 women claim that Loyola violated its own procedures for disciplinary hearings as outlined in the Student Handbook by placing three administrators on the panel that presided over the hearing. The suit indicates that Director of Student Activities Chris Cameron, Assistant Director of Wellness and Aquatics Jeremy Johnson, and Associate Director of Facilities and Instructional Programs Germayne Turner comprised part of the panel during the April 13 disciplinary hearing.

However, the handbook allows for “a maximum of…two administrators” to sit on that panel. And according to the lawsuit, the presence of three administrators prejudicially weighed the panel in favor of the same administration that had brought the charges and then prosecuted the women.

McNeil said Thursday afternoon that she had not seen a copy of the suit, and therefore could not comment on that allegation. She, along with Vice President of Student Affairs James Eiseman and the university, are named as defendants in the case.

The suit also states that the women were found guilty of violating Loyola’s Hazing Policy, which according to the Student Handbook is “applicable to all student organizations.”

But the women contend that they were not an officially recognized student organization at Loyola. Because of their unrecognized status, the suit contends that the university “was legally precluded from charging any of Tri Phi’s members with violating the university’s Hazing Policy.”

Randall Smith, the attorney who filed the lawsuit on behalf of the 17 women, was unavailable for comment Thursday, but held a press conference outside his St. Charles Avenue law office Tuesday for select members of the local media.

Student interest in the fates of the alleged Tri Phi’s also spurred a student-organized rally in their support Tuesday in the Peace Quad.

“Loyola doesn’t inform the students. They hold everything behind closed doors and then they wonder why we’re so upset,” said sociology junior Casey Topletz, who organized the rally. Topletz, who claims that several of the sanctioned women are his close friends, said that he wanted to help give the Tri Phi’s a bigger voice in the administrative process.

“I wasn’t about to see my friends leave Loyola this way,” Topletz said. “I don’t think Loyola has the right to step in like they did, and when they did they didn’t follow due process at all.”

Tuesday’s rally, which took place on the steps in front of the Monroe Library, attracted a crowd of about 25 people, including two local television crews.

But Topletz said he encountered major problems with administrators when he tried to inform other students about the event.

“I tried to send a well-written, completely informative Campus E-mail that didn’t attack anyone or mention Tri Phi at all, except to say that there would be a rally today,” Topletz said. “It was sent back to me.”

Topletz said he then tried to ask McNeill about the problem, but her secretary told him the e-mail would not be approved and that there would be no further explanation as to why.

Despite that the rally met administrative opposition, Topletz says he does not forsee any trouble with the university over Tuesday’s protest.

“Going in, I could definitely tell there was going to be friction,” Topletz said, “but I really don’t feel like they would want to step on anyone else’s toes. They’ve gone through too much already with all of this.”

Chuck Alexander can be reached at [email protected].

Topletz addresses the crowd.

A crowd gathers around the steps of the Monroe Library during a rally in support of the sanctioned women.