U. probing incident at SAE house

The Judicial Inquiry Office and the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs are investigating Sigma Alpha Epsilon for its alleged participation in tying a naked man to a gate, Associate Vice Provost for University Life Larry Moneta said yesterday. Moneta also said that the issue is relevant whether or not the incident was related to hazing. "There is an investigation underway," Moneta said. "The issue of whether the student was a pledge or not is immaterial. Any individual can still be a victim." Five female College freshmen, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, independently described an incident in which they saw a naked man with a rope around his neck tied to the front gate of SAE's Spruce Street house. The incident took place Sunday evening around 8:00 p.m., the women said. The women also described "some kind of liquid" which covered the man's naked body. They speculated that it was either ketchup, chocolate syrup, grease or paint. One woman suggested that the paint appeared to be the colors of the Buffalo Bills, which lost the Super Bowl Sunday evening. SAE President and Engineering junior Will McAlexander declined to comment on the investigation last night, saying that it was "in the house's best interest to let the investigator do all the research." McAlexander said Monday that "an incident occurred, [but] no pledge was involved, [and] no pledge was at the house." Interfraternity Council President Morris Massel said that it is not out of the ordinary for the JIO or OFSA to investigate an "abnormal" incident. "If something abnormal occurs, standard operating procedure is that they investigate the matter but that doesn't imply that the parties involved have done something wrong," said Massel, a College junior. "It just appears abnormal." It is not clear yet whether the "victim" of the incident had consented to being stripped and tied up to the gate. "Anybody who was involuntarily -- if that's the case -- engaged in anything embarrassing or humiliating or even physically dehabilitating is a victim in my opinion," Moneta said. One of the women who witnessed the incident said it is not necessarily important whether the individual consented or not. "I was a bit offended [by the incident] because I think it's really inappropriate behavior," she said. "If he consents to it, I don't think that it should be in a public street. If it's his choice that's fine, but I don't consider that kind of stuff that funny."