A member of the five-man national council of Phi Delta Theta fraternity said today that the ouster of a Jewish pledge from the chapter at Lake Forest College in Illinois was justified by the fact that the fraternity was “founded on Christian principles” and should remain that way.
The statement was made by John Shetman, 24, who said that two other members of the council had authorized him to make the statement in reference to the “de-pledging” of Donald C. Schiller, a Chicago freshman, early this year. The youth had been pledged in November in the hope that the national council would not object. He has been living in the fraternity house of the Chicago North shore college since as a “house guest.”
Officials of the Presbyterian-affiliated college had criticized the ouster but Shetman said that “we feel that Christian beliefs must be practiced by members.”
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