Police raid Alpha Phi date party

Three arrested, charged with underage drinking Pennsylvania State Police broke up Alpha Phi's first "large-scale" party of the semester Thursday night at Sfuzzi At One Liberty Place, according to College junior Janis Felderstein, the sorority's president. Two sisters, one freshman pledge and a pledge's guest were arrested for underage drinking, Felderstein confirmed. Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs Director Scott Reikofski was unaware of any University investigation pending against the sorority as of Sunday afternoon. According to College junior Caroline Chait, Alpha Phi's social chairperson, the sorority was not charged with violation of state law. She added that she does not believe the sorority will be investigated for violation of University alcohol policy. "This problem is not going to hinder us socially," she said. "We are not going to be holding parties at Sfuzzi's anymore, and we recommend to the rest of the Greek community not to hold parties there because of the dealings that we've had with them." According to Chait, the sorority's social chair, the event was a crush party -- sisters and pledges were allowed to invite 2-3 males to attend. A freshman pledge who requested anonymity explained that plain-clothes police officers were waiting outside the restaurant, which is located at 1650 Market Street, when she arrived. The officers raided the party at 10:45 p.m. -- 45 minutes after it had begun. She added that the police officers asked those in possession of alcohol to show identification. "I asked one cop why he was there, and he said that someone called and told them about the party," she said. But Chait said she was unaware of this. "[Pennsylvania State Police] just happened to be on a raid, and it was unfortunate that Sfuzzi's happened to be on their list," she said. According to Chait, Alpha Phi's contract with Sfuzzi stated that the party was "18 to enter and 21 to drink." "They were going to card at the door," she said. "They obviously didn't card hard enough." Those with over-21 identification received a hand-stamp that enabled them to purchase drinks at the bar. But the pledge said the lighting was poor, and the stamps were hard to see -- and that she didn't think the bartenders were even checking for stamps on the hands of those they served. A manager at Sfuzzi said no legal action was being taken against the restaurant, although Chait said she believed Sfuzzi was at fault. "Alpha Phi was not at fault for this event. It was a registered party, and everything was by the rules," she said. "I think it was definitely on the fault of Sfuzzi." Another member of Alpha Phi who wished to remain anonymous agreed that Sfuzzi was responsible for preventing underage drinking, and said she was disappointed the party was broken up because of the weeks of planning that went into it.