Motives for LCE raid of Phi Kappa Psi party still unclear, signs of raid remain

The signs of a busted party were all that remained. "LCE, we want the beer back," read a banner in front of the Phi Kappa Psi house at 3924 Spruce Street yesterday. And the words "Fuck the LCE" were inscribed on the sidewalk. "It was just a joke," Phi Psi President Steven Cappiello said last night. "We tried to remove it from [the sidewalk], but it was difficult." According to Cappiello, the signs expressed the sentiment of only one member in the house. But the Engineering junior added that the rest of the house feels similarly about the State Police Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement which raided a party at the fraternity house Friday night. "Basically that [sentiment], but without the swear words," Cappiello said. But the sentiment is also joined by conspiracy theories which rival "JFK." Phi Psi Social Chairperson Jon Held said he could not understand why Phi Psi, a 20-member fraternity, was singled out. That same night, other fraternities on campus which were also having parties were not raided. "Phi Psi is small but we have 20 quality brothers," Held said. "It's a great house. We have no reason to cause problems. We were following the law. We were doing what the University wanted us to do." According to InterFraternity Council President Jeff Blount, the occurrence is the first time a University fraternity has had to deal with an LCE raid. "I had heard about [similar occurrences] at Penn State," Blount said. "But not here in our city." Cappiello said he thinks there was just one other incident involving a fraternity and the LCE in Pennsylvania state history. Blount said he could not speculate on the ramifications of the incident or on any actions the IFC might take. He added that the matter was discussed at a regularly-scheduled executive board meeting of the IFC yesterday. Blount added that he is still trying to gather all of the facts about the incident. The IFC will hold a general meeting on Wednesday. According to Held, the agents who busted the party said a "competitor" informed the LCE about the party. "You could take that to mean another fraternity, either here or possibly [Philadelphia College of Pharmacy & Science]," the College junior said. "Basically, we have a lot of friends that go to that college and sometimes we will invite them over. In general, I think that some of the guys we have run into know we are inviting friends over and are jealous. They were tired of us, and decided to tip-off the LCE." But Cappiello speculated that the raid might be a side effect of a larger issue. "There is a lot of anti-Greek sentiment on this campus," Cappiello said. "This is pure speculation on my part, but anyone opposed could have gotten a hand on an invite and given the information to the LCE." Cappiello said he thinks the source of the bust will be on file with LCE officials. The LCE could not be reached for comment.

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