Police rule death accidental; probe turns to FIJI

Penn, the IFC and FIKI's national office will see if the frat broke any rules. While police conclude their official investigation into the death of Michael Tobin, the 26-year-old University alumnus found dead early Sunday morning behind the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity house at 3619 Locust Walk, the University and FIJI's national headquarters are probing whether the fraternity violated any of the University's alcohol regulations. After the police investigation into the crime scene revealed "large amounts of empty and half-filled containers of alcohol still spread throughout the first floor of the house," the Office of Student Conduct, University Police and the Vice Provost for University Life are conducting their own review of the fraternity's potential alcohol policy violations, according to University Police Chief Maureen Rush. At a press conference yesterday, Penn Vice President for Public Safety Tom Seamon said the University would continue to examine not just FIJI but the entire Greek system in light of the death. "The University will review all of its policies concerning the safety of the students and especially the conditions under which fraternities and sororities operate," Seamon said. According to the University's official alcohol policy, "the intentional and knowing furnishing of alcoholic beverages?Eto persons obviously inebriated on property owned or controlled by the University" is prohibited. Also, the organizers of any social event with alcohol must "have an established plan to ensure that only legal-age individuals have access to alcohol." The FIJI house has been blocked off as a crime scene, and police officials said students will not be able to move back in until the alcohol policy violations investigations are complete and numerous fire and safety code breaches have been addressed. Once the University and the fraternity's national office complete their investigations, the InterFraternity Council will carry out its own probe into whether the chapter violated IFC rules by having a keg at an alumni party. Currently, the IFC excludes closed events, like Saturday's FIJI alumni pig roast, from its Greek Alcohol Management Policy, which is a set of guidelines for fraternity parties demanding that people at the door check identification, distribute wristbands to those over 21 and that monitors watch over parties. FIJI President Martin Park did not return calls for comment yesterday. And IFC President Mark Metzl, a Tau Epsilon Phi brother and College junior, said yesterday that "maybe this incident suggests we should have policy for alumni events and brotherhood events." IFC Judicial Inquiry Representative Steven Fechheimer, a Pi Kappa Phi brother and Wharton junior, said, "We are certainly going to have our own investigation [later] and separately." The Wharton junior added that the IFC has "issued no disciplinary action" and may reach the "same conclusion" as the University and the fraternity's national chapter after its probe. The Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs refused to comment yesterday. OFSA Assistant Director Tom Carroll said the Office of the Vice Provost for University Life would handle the investigation and answer questions. FIJI Fraternity Executive Director Bill Martin is on campus and will start investigating the scene today. Martin will gather information on campus to present to FIJI's disciplinary board before departing tomorrow for the fraternity's national headquarters in Kentucky. As of yesterday afternoon, the national office said it did not have enough information to know whether or not the chapter would be penalized. "At this point, I don't anticipate any disciplinary action prior to knowing all the facts," Martin said yesterday, adding that the brothers will continue to operate as a chapter until the national office generates a "clearer picture of events." This is not the first time FIJI has drawn police officers to its house. An October 1997 incident attracted at least 50 police officers from several forces after three allegedly drunk men were arguing loudly outside the house. Two of the three -- then-College freshman Bill Sofield and 27-year-old Harvard University alumnus Warnell "Yode" Owens -- went inside the FIJI house as Sofield's older brother was arrested outside for disorderly conduct. Owens then fled through a rear door of the house and was eventually arrested for assaulting four Penn Police officers in three separate incidents between the back of the house and the intersection of 36th and Walnut streets. The incident drew even more attention for what happened inside the house to Sofield, who is now a FIJI brother. Several FIJI brothers accused the police of using excessive force to arrest Sofield. A judge later acquitted Sofield of resisting arrest, and an internal Penn Police review determined that officers acted properly. Owens entered a plea bargain on reduced assault charges last November. FIJI was also in the news in 1988, when the fraternity was put on probation for bringing strippers to its rush events.

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