A San Luis Obispo woman is suing Cal Poly President Jeffrey Armstrong and the CSU Board of Trustees over Cal Poly’s apparent refusal to release the addresses of certain registered fraternity parties and events.

Kathie Walker — a former resident of the Alta Vista neighborhood in SLO and an advocate for stronger enforcement of city zoning regulations that prohibit fraternity operations in low- and medium- density neighborhoods — filed a public records lawsuit on March 18 seeking to compel Cal Poly to release the addresses of registered fraternity events after years of back-and-forth requests to the university.

Walker has been outspoken about her frustrations with the city and Cal Poly over noise levels in lower-density — also known as R-1 and R-2 — neighborhoods, due to fraternity operations that violate city regulations.

Her frustration led her to repeatedly request from the university the addresses of fraternity events, which she claims are registered with Cal Poly. Walker hoped that accessing the addresses would allow the city to better enforce its zoning regulations and crack down on partying in the R-1 and R-2 neighborhoods.

But in response, the university “repeatedly refused to fully disclose address information reflected in those public records,” according to the lawsuit.

While Cal Poly did ultimately release the addresses of events registered at affiliated fraternity chapter houses in February, Walker’s lawsuit alleges the university did not release the addresses of other registered events, including at locations that may not be at official fraternity houses.

Walker filed the public records lawsuit in hopes of compelling the university to release the addresses of all the events, so residents and city officials alike can see if fraternities have been operating in the neighborhoods without the proper permitting.

“Its commitment to secrecy frustrates the efforts by Walker and others, including the City itself, to know whether and to what extent — with Cal Poly’s complicity — the law is being ignored and violated in their City,” the lawsuit says. “And it hinders the City’s effort to enforce municipal regulations and thereby protect its residents’ well-being.”

Walker’s lawsuit was filed by attorney Matt Cate on March 18, according to court documents.

The filing coincided with Sunshine Week, an annual event that emphasizes government transparency and the public’s right to records.

“This case is fundamentally about transparency and how public institutions serve the communities around them,” Walker told The Tribune via email. “When a public university collects information about organized activities that have real impacts on neighborhoods, that information should be accessible.”

She added that transparency not only supports accountability, but also helps all stakeholders work together more effectively.

“My goal in bringing this case is not conflict but clarity, so that expectations are consistent, the law is applied fairly, and communities have the tools they need to stay informed and engaged,” she said. “Ultimately, transparency benefits everyone.”

The Tribune reached out to the university about the lawsuit, but spokesperson Keegan Koberl responded that Cal Poly “does not have any comment on pending litigation.”

According to the lawsuit, Cal Poly is required by law to collect the details of sanctioned fraternity events, including locations and times, and campus policies require Cal Poly fraternities to register their events ahead of time, using exact addresses.

In October 2023, Cal Poly published an annual report that detailed all of the registered fraternity events for the year, including street addresses, regardless of whether they were located at affiliated chapter houses or not, according to the lawsuit.

But in July 2024, the addresses in that report were amended to reflect only the city the events were located in, and future reports did not include street addresses, the lawsuit says.

“During the nine-month period Cal Poly publicly disclosed the addresses of those events, the City was in fact able to identify properties where fraternity houses were operating illegally,” the lawsuit says. “And it was able to initiate enforcement efforts, consistent with City code, to advance the goal of minimizing the potentially ‘detrimental’ impacts that can arise from unregulated fraternity housing operations.”

Walker argues that the removal of those addresses has hampered the city’s ability to track fraternity activity that occurs outside city regulations.

“But since Cal Poly stopped disclosing the sanctioned-event address information that it routinely gathers from fraternities and refusing to disclose it even to the City, the City’s code-enforcement efforts on this front have stalled — even as residents have clamored for the City’s help to root out often unruly, and unlawful, fraternity housing in their neighborhoods,” the lawsuit says.

In October 2023, Walker first requested from Cal Poly the addresses of “satellite” fraternity houses, but her request was denied in November of the same year, according to the lawsuit.

Satellite houses are those that are not main chapter houses, but are still used to host fraternity events.

Walker said Cal Poly directed her to its annual report detailing the addresses of registered fraternity events, which at the time, still included full street addresses.

In July 2024, Walker submitted a request once again requesting details about satellite houses, as well as “records reflecting certain information — including the date, time and address — for ‘sanctioned events held by each Cal Poly fraternity and sorority’ from July 1, 2023, through July 1, 2024,” the lawsuit says.

The request was later narrowed to request a list of sanctioned fraternity events from July 2023 to June 2024, reflecting the times and addresses that the events were held.

According to the lawsuit, Walker was notified in August 2024 that Cal Poly had disclosable records, but the university did not provide a date the records would be produced.

In September, she received word that Cal Poly had identified documents needing review and redaction and estimated that the records would be produced within the following weeks.

“Despite that representation, Cal Poly did not produce any records within the promised timeframe or provide a revised estimated date of production,” the lawsuit says.

Walker’s lawsuit also claims that Cal Poly denied a similar request submitted by the city in October 2024.

More than a year later, on Nov. 23, 2025, Walker once again submitted a public records request for the addresses of fraternity events registered from July 2023 through the date of the request.

On Feb. 6, the university responded with a batch of records — but Walker still didn’t get what she requested.

According to the lawsuit, the records provided by Cal Poly were redacted to hide street addresses “with limited exceptions.”

Specifically, the addresses of events hosted at affiliated chapter houses were not redacted, while other event addresses were hidden, the lawsuit says.

Walker’s lawsuit argues that Cal Poly’s redactions were “unlawfully applied” to the records and hide information that would reveal whether fraternities have been operating in the neighborhoods in areas where fraternities are not allowed, or in sanctioned areas, but without conditional use permits.

“Cal Poly’s refusal to fully disclose the address information reflected in these public records therefore deprives Walker, and the public generally, of understanding whether and to what extent unlawful activity is happening in their neighborhoods and what steps they can advocate City officials to take to protect and enhance the well-being of all residents,” the lawsuit says.