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Theta Tau

SU has no say over private Theta Tau fraternity housing

Alexandra Moreo | Senior Staff Photographer

Theta Tau is located at 1105 Harrison St.

By Kennedy Rose, Sam OgozalekThe Daily Orange

A Syracuse University spokesperson in a statement to The Daily Orange on Monday evening said that SU cannot remove students from Theta Tau’s fraternity house because it’s private property.

Onondaga County property records show that the parcel of land Theta Tau is located on, at 1105 Harrison St., is owned by the Tau of Theta Tau House Corp. New York state business records show that Tau of Theta Tau House Corp. is an active entity with an initial filing date of April 1969.

The chapter house is not owned by the University; therefore the decision about its closure will remain with the local alumni corporation, which essentially serves as the owner and manager of the house.
SU spokesperson

A property in Belleair Beach, Florida is listed as the company’s address, records show.

That address, near Tampa Bay, is property owned by Dean and Erin Bettinger, Pinellas County records show. Dean Bettinger, an SU alumnus who graduated in the early 1980s, has been listed as a Theta Tau laurette in the national fraternity organization’s Alumni Hall of Fame, according to PDF documents uploaded to the thetatau.org website.

Bettinger’s post office address was listed in Fayetteville before he and Erin bought the property in Florida, Pinellas County records show. Fayetteville is a suburb just east of Syracuse.



The national fraternity organization’s central office did not respond to a request for comment on Monday evening. Bettinger did not respond to multiple requests for comment on Monday afternoon. Erin Bettinger also did not respond to a request for comment.

“The chapter house is not owned by the University; therefore the decision about its closure will remain with the local alumni corporation, which essentially serves as the owner and manager of the house,” the SU spokesperson said in an emailed statement on Monday evening. “University policy does not govern this house as it is managed by an external corporation.”

“But to be clear: even though the property is owned by an external entity, the Syracuse chapter has been expelled from campus and will never be able to reorganize again.”

One PDF document uploaded to the thetatau.org website lists Bettinger as a founding member of the Theta Tau Educational Foundation. The foundation is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization.

According to the organization’s 990 form for Fiscal Year 2016, the Theta Tau Educational Foundation had just over $1.7 million in total assets. Bettinger was not listed on the organization’s 990 as a current officer, director, trustee, key employee or highest compensated employee.

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Josh Shub-Seltzer | Staff Photographer

As of 2018, the Theta Tau house at SU had a full market value of about $190,000, Onondaga County property records show. There are no sales of the property listed on the county’s website, though.

The fraternity’s house is close to the intersection of Comstock Avenue and Harrison Street. Chancellor Kent Syverud’s house is just across the street from Theta Tau.

SU’s chapter of Theta Tau was permanently expelled on Saturday. The university confirmed that its members were involved in the creation of videos that showed students in Theta Tau’s house using racial slurs and miming the sexual assault of a person with disabilities.

Department of Public Safety Chief Bobby Maldonado in a campus-wide email on Sunday said SU has removed 18 students from “academic participation” due to the university’s Theta Tau investigation.

Maldonado, during a press briefing at Manley Field House on Monday afternoon, also said DPS has recommended charges to the Office of Student Rights and Responsibilities as officials prepare to hold meetings with students as part of the university’s investigation. Administrators expect the investigation to take another two weeks.

Recognize Us, a social movement organized last week in response to the university’s handling of the Theta Tau expulsion, has demanded that SU expel all students involved in the videos.

“This behavior involves conduct as well as speech, and conduct is the reason this is part of the student judicial process,” Syverud said during the briefing on Monday afternoon.

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