College junior E. Martyn Griffen has sued the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity and two of its members because, he says, they beat and branded him in a hazing incident six months ago.
Griffen is suing the national fraternity, as well as two of its Penn members, College junior Kelechi Okereke and Education graduate student Lionel Anderson-Perez, claiming that Anderson-Perez punched his thighs and Okereke repeatedly snapped a rubber band on his arm until cut his skin, leaving a "de facto" brand.
Robert Sachs, one of Griffen's lawyers, said that Griffen has since withdrawn from Penn due to the emotional and psychological effects of the incident, but plans to return in the fall.
A doctor at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania who examined Griffen said that he had a "hard mass running the entire length of the front of the left thigh," measuring about 5 inches by 1 inch by 1.5 inches. The cause of such an injury, said Sachs, is severe trauma. Photos of Griffen's arm also show deep scars left by the rubber band.
Sachs added that other pledges - called "aspirants" in a new system, under which students apply to the fraternity at the national level ƒ_" were also beaten that night as part of a group punishment that occurred when one aspirant divulged fraternity secrets to a non-member.
Griffen did not reveal his injuries until his family noticed him limping while he was home over Thanksgiving Break. It was at that point that Griffen acknowledged what happened to him. His father, Wendell Griffen, an appeals court judge in Little Rock who is currently running for the Arkansas Supreme Court, said that "rules won't enforce themselves," adding that the national Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity failed to act in the case.
After realizing hazing was a serious issue in the 1990s, black fraternities and sororities made an effort to change their pledging process to ensure that serious incidents never occurred again, Sachs said, adding that those measures failed in this case.
"Somebody is looking the other way," Sachs said. "There is so much that could be done to monitor conduct," such as surprise visits and interviews by the national chapter, he added.
Alpha Phi Alpha ƒ_" an African American fraternity with members including Martin Luther King Jr. and Thurgood Marshall ƒ_" has a membership intake policy that "strictly prohibits hazing in any form whether physical or mental as a term or condition of membership in the organization."
Separate pledging incidents have led to students being hospitalized from other Alpha Phi Alpha chapters in other states.
Penn has been close-lipped about the incident, but did release a short statement. According to Penn spokeswoman Phyllis Holtzman, the Penn chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha has been suspended until at least July 2008. Holtzman said that the University was aware of the allegations and an investigation found that the fraternity chapter had violated anti-hazing regulations.
Penn's Resources, Policies and Procedures Handbook specifically prohibits "any brutality of a physical nature," including beating and branding.
Holtzman added that there will be a number of requirements that the fraternity will have to meet before it is allowed to reestablish at Penn, including two years of effective probation after reestablishment during which the chapter must show exemplary behavior. The fraternity will also have to provide each member with training on hazing and recruitment procedures.
Alpha Phi Alpha members were unavailable for comment.
Griffen's civil suit, filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court in Philadelphia, implicates Anderson-Perez and Okereke, as well as the Baltimore-based national Alpha Phi Alpha organization. The suit claims Griffen was the victim of assault, battery, negligence and intentional infliction of emotional distress, and seeks more than $75,000 in damages.
Sachs said he expects the case to go to trial within a year.
