WELCOME BACK: PiKA faces two year suspension for hazing

The University suspended the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity for two years after finding the house collectively responsible for numerous hazing incidents during the last school year. The decision, reached June 5 by Vice Provost for University Life Kim Morrisson, places all current PiKA brothers on early alumni status and prohibits brothers from living in the PiKA house during the suspension. John Gamba, a 1992 College graduate who was PiKA's president during the 1991 calendar year, said the suspension was inappropriate. "I think lately through the leadership of PiKA, we were a house to be benchmarked, a house to be emulated, not to be condemned," he said. "I think that our accomplishments speak for themselves." Morrisson based her decision on recommendations from the Fraternity and Sorority Advisory Board, which held a hearing on the alleged violations May 13. PiKA brothers were found collectively responsible for several of the violations, including planning unauthorized pledge trips and holding pledge meetings at a time forbidden by University regulations. The FSAB also found PiKA officers guilty of not taking proper action after the chapter's president learned in January that "members of the pledge class were engaging in frequent use of marijuana . . . . No action was taken with regard to individual pledges who had been identified with these activities." The FSAB, however, recommended that the University suspend PiKA for only one semester because of efforts by the chapter and its alumni to improve self-governance procedures. Morrisson rejected the recommendation. While recognizing the fraternity's recent strides, she said the longer suspension was justified because the recent incidents violated a settlement reached between PiKA and the University in 1990 after a separate set of incidents. "I felt it was very important that the University adhere to the agreement that it entered into," Morrisson said. "This was an agreement signed by [PiKA] and the University. If we don't adhere to these kinds of agreements, they're not worth much." The 1990 settlement placed PiKA on probation for at least three years with the caveat that any further violation of University regulations by the fraternity would result in "an immediate suspension for a period of no less than two years." The previous violations centered on two incidents, one in which pledges brought a sick horse to the fraternity house as a prank, and another in which three PiKA brothers allegedly faked a hold-up of other members of the fraternity, leading police to believe a real robbery had occurred. Under the terms of the June 5 suspension, brothers may petition for reinstatement next spring. If successful, they may begin meeting in September 1993 to prepare an application for renewed probation, which may begin no sooner than the fall of 1994. Gamba said he can understand Morrisson's point of view in the case, but feels the suspension will do more harm than good. "I don't deny that PiKA had, and has, problems, but they are fixed through an ongoing process, through hard work and dedication," he said. "And by taking away the fraternity house, the potential that we were finally reaching . . . they're basically killing any potential that we had." InterFraternity President Jeffrey Blount questioned Morrisson's decision to use the 1990 settlement agreement as a basis for determining the severity of the sanction. "It just seems to me that when a situation like this arises, you don't make a decision just because something is written there," the Wharton senior said. "You take account of all of the facts and weigh them, and attempt to make a thoughtful and fair decision." Blount also criticized the timing of the decision, saying he found it "very disappointing" that University officials waited until most students had left campus before resolving the case. He added that officials did not personally inform him of the suspension immediately after it was ordered. "I heard about it second-hand, and as president of the IFC, it seems logical that someone would officially tell me that PiKA is being sanctioned," he said. "I guess that my line of thinking seems silly to other people." College junior David Katz said that brothers did not immediately learn of the suspension either, and that "word got around the grapevine" before they received official letters from the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs. Katz also faulted communication between the IFC, PiKA and the administration, saying the house received little warning to prepare for the FSAB hearing during finals week. "The IFC should have been involved throughout this whole thing," he added. "It's turing out to be the administration against the Greeks." The fraternity as a whole was not found responsible for an incident in February, where three pledges were arrested along the Massachusetts Turnpike while trying to steal a highway sign. The FSAB found that the pledges were acting on their own. Following the highway sign incident, PiKA suspended the three arrested pledges and removed the responsible pledge officers from office. The FSAB's recommendation to Morrisson made note of that action. 'I heard about [the decision] second-hand, and as president of the IFC, it seems logical that someone would officially tell me that PiKA is being sanctioned. I guess that my line of thinking seems silly to other people.' Jeffrey Blount InterFraternity Council President