St. A's investigated for charging at party

The Greek Judicial Inquiry Board will determine if the accusations are true. For the first time this semester, a Penn fraternity is being investigated for a social violation, as the Greek-run Judicial Inquiry Board will examine whether St. Anthony's -- or Delta Psi -- charged door fees at a house party Saturday night. Graduate observer reports from the weekend indicated that St. A's charged money to attend its Saturday night Mardi Gras party, according to Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs Assistant Director Tom Carroll. A Pennsylvania law passed last spring prohibits Greek organizations from charging admission to their social events. Carroll added that the alleged incident was referred to the InterFraternity Council's Judicial Inquiry Board for investigation. He declined to comment on the details of either the charge or the investigation. But former St. A's President James Lees Jr., a College senior, denied the allegations, maintaining that his fraternity did not charge door fees at the party, which University Police shut down at 2:30 a.m. College junior Jared Lewis, the current St. A's President, could not be reached for comment yesterday. "There is no truth to that statement," Lees said in reference to the observer's report. "I don't know where it came from." But several students who attended the party said the fraternity charged them to enter. A male student who asked to remain anonymous said St. A's charged him $10 to enter the party, a charge confirmed by College freshman Josh Pechar, a member of The Daily Pennsylvanian business staff. The judicial inquiry board -- created in the spring of 1996 -- typically takes about a week to complete an investigation of this type. The board is composed of IFC members. If they allegations prove true, the board would likely put St. A's on social probation and levy a fine per brother. Door-fee violations last semester were punished with four weeks social probation and a $10 fine per brother, according to Carroll. He added that the board has been significantly more effective than the previous Greek Peer Judicial Board -- which was composed of IFC, Panhellenic Council and Bicultural InterGreek Council members -- in dealing with social violations quickly and consistently. Besides the door fees, students who attended the party said University Police officers arrived to end the party after it went past 2 a.m. The procedure is standard for University Police. According to Lees, upon entering the house, an officer said, "Listen, everybody's going to start making their way home." Within 20 minutes after the arrival of police, the party cleared out, Lees explained. He added that no major incidents took place at the party. OFSA Director Scott Reikofski said the Penn Police make routine checks of fraternity parties to make sure they are over at 2 a.m. -- the required closing time for public establishments that serve alcohol according to Pennsylvania state law. Although fraternity parties could technically be considered private, the University has always treated them as public events and enforced the law, according to Reikofski. Both Carroll and Reikofski said they were unaware that University Police entered the party at St. A's.