another article.... this one explains that the boys actually WEREN'T Sig Pi's... they had de-pledged for not paying fees, and in another article I read, Sig Pi national said they werent initated brothers.
The sorority Squam was mixing with is Gamma Phi Beta. I was hesitant to mention which one because mixers are basically taboo.. you can only have dry mixers or have mixers with alcohol at third party vendors where they check IDs for those under 21... therefore, most mixers arent reported to the school and are illegal. I wonder if Gamma Phi is going to get in any trouble... hopefully the school wont be hard on them in light of the situation.
http://www.app.com/app2001/story/0,21133,831160,00.html
7 nabbed in Rutgers fight
Published in the Asbury Park Press 10/14/03
By KEN SERRANO
GANNETT NEW JERSEY
NEW BRUNSWICK -- It started as a mixer, a get-together between the Gamma Phi Beta sorority and Squamish, an ununofficial fraternity, authorities said.
ALEXANDRA PAIS photo
Women pass by a makeshift shrine yesterday dedicated to the victims of a brawl at Squam fraternity Sunday morning, Robert J. Morgan and John P. Morin. Both men remain in intensive care at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick.
But in the early hours of Sunday, the social function spun out of control. It ended with a melee that left two Squamish members in the surgical intensive care unit at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick after each was struck in the head with a baseball bat.
Last night, Robert J. Morgan of Pine Beach and John P. Morin of Cliffside Park, both 20 and juniors at Rutgers University, remained in critical condition, said William Lamb, first assistant Middlesex County prosecutor. Neither Lamb nor anyone contacted at the hospital would comment on their exact conditions.
So far, seven men -- including 19-year-old Christopher Gornik of Oceanport and David Mallow, age unavailable, of Brick -- have been arrested and charged. Mallow is a 2001 graduate of Brick Memorial High School.
Three men are still being sought.
Morgan, the victim from Pine Beach, graduated from Toms River South in 2001. Ron Signorino Jr., a football coach at Toms River South when Morgan was a senior, remembered him as a hard-working, quiet young man.
"He was a great kid to have on your team. He was always at practice, never complained and always did what he was asked," said Signorino.
The coach said that Morgan was not the type of teen he would expect to be in fights.
"In fact, he was just the opposite. That wasn't part of his character."
Russell K. Corby, mayor of Pine Beach, is a neighbor of the Morgan family.
"I've known the family for about 15 years," Corby said. "He is a regular kid from the neighborhood. He did well in school. I have never heard of him being in trouble for anything."
Scott Campbell, another coach at South, also remembered him as a hard worker.
"He didn't have great talent. He was a program kid -- the kind of guy you need for a team to have success," said Campbell.
Reconstructing events
Lamb said authorities were still trying to piece together the brawl that occurred in front of the Squamish, or "Squam," fraternity house at 95 College Ave. at 3:30 a.m. Sunday.
"The mixer was closed and apparently people from Sigma Pi came over to get in and were denied entry. That triggered the fight," Lamb said.
The fight involved members of Squamish, Sigma Pi and the Rutgers wrestling team, au-thorities said.
Lamb said 23-year-old Jonathan Rodriguez of Bound Brook, a former member of the Rutgers wrestling team, hit Morin and Morgan in the head with a baseball bat. Rodriguez, a for-mer Rutgers student who in-tended to re-enroll this winter, faces weapons charges, two counts of aggravated assault and conspiracy to riot. He was freed yesterday on a $350,000 bond.
His twin brother, Rutgers se-nior and wrestling team mem-ber Kenneth Rodriguez, was charged with conspiracy, weap-ons possession and hindering apprehension. He was freed yesterday on a $150,000 bond.
The other five men arrested re-mained last night at the Mid-dlesex County Adult Correction Center, North Brunswick, in lieu of $150,000 bail each.
Matthew Strampfer, 21, a Rut-gers senior who lives in a fra-ternity house across the street from Squam, witnessed the fight.
There were about 30 to 35 peo-ple on each side of the street fight, with some swinging poles or wooden sticks, he said.
Lamb identified Kenneth Ro-driguez and Gornik as mem-bers of Sigma Pi, whose house is on Union Street.
But fraternity members denied that yesterday.
Gornik pledged in the spring but was de-pledged on Sept. 15 for failing to pay fees, said Mike Catapano, secretary of the Rutgers chapter.
"Neither of the Rodriguez brothers or anyone else in cus-tody is a member of Sigma Pi," he said.
Two women who answered the door at the Gamma Beta Phi sorority house yesterday de-clined comment.
Members of Squamish issued a statement that read in part: "Our primary concern remains with our brothers who were attacked and injured that eve-ning. We hope and pray for a full and speedy recovery for both of them."
As far as the investigation goes, "We have pledged our full support and are ready to pro-vide any assistance that is re-quested of us," the statement read.
Other charges filed
The following men were charged with conspiracy to riot: Gornik, a Cook College sophomore and wrestler; Mal-low, enrolled at the universi-ty's Newark campus; Justin Smigelsky, 20, of Old Bridge, a Rutgers College junior who is a criminal-justice major and a member of the Rutgers wres-tling team; Bound Brook resi-dent Derek Michalowski, 22, a former Franklin and Marshall College wrestler; 19-year-old Roy Sous, a Livingston College sophomore.
Sous and Mallow also are charged with hindering an in-vestigation.
Three complaints also were is-sued against other participants in the fight, although they are known only by nicknames, Lamb said.
University President Richard L. McCormick issued a state-ment yesterday, saying, "The university deplores the sense-less violence that occurred and will pursue all appropriate ac-tions against any Rutgers stu-dents who took part."