April 6, 2005
Augie frat linked to stolen lions
By Melissa Vogt,
mvogt@qconline.com
ROCK ISLAND -- William Shakespeare once wrote "A lion among ladies is a most dreadful thing."
Lifted lion statues among the men of Gamma Alpha Beta may be a punishable thing.
Fraternity president Jon Schneider has admitted members took "lawn ornaments" during a recent pledge activity. He said Tuesday he is working with Augustana College officials and property owners to make amends for the statuenappings.
Augustana director of student activities Ken Brill said the fraternity will face charges of violating Greek pledging policies and the college's code of conduct for the incident. Officers "very likely" will face additional charges, Mr. Brill said.
Augustana security officers told city police they found two unmatched lion statues near 31st Street and 8th Avenue at 2:41 p.m. Monday.
The statues were brought to the Rock Island City Hall courtyard and placed next to a Dumpster. The Greek letters Gamma Alpha Beta had been painted in black on the pedestals of both.
Police spokesman Capt. John Wright said the owner of one lion recovered his statue Monday evening. The other lion disappeared sometime Monday while in police custody, but had been recovered again by Tuesday night.
Four lion statues were reported missing to Rock Island police last week, Capt. Wright said. A detective has been assigned to track down the other two, he said.
Dan and Jennifer Sharp's were perhaps the better known pair in the community.
For more than five years, their ceramic lion statues on the 38th Street hill near Kmart have been dressed for every occasion imaginable -- Veteran's Day, Halloween, St. Patrick's Day and Fourth of July. The first outfits honored Mrs. Sharp running the Bix 7 race.
The Sharps have received many hand-written notes addressed to the "lion owners," "lion tamers" or simply "residents" -- thanking them for the festive displays.
"We just want to get them back to make other people happy," Mr. Sharp said. "Young (pranksters) don't realize what they're doing to other people."
While costumed as the Easter Bunny and the suffering Jesus Christ, the lions were taken March 28 from their normal place guarding the Sharps' driveway.
From Day 1, Mr. Sharp had secured his lions with cables, fearing someone would try to steal them. The thieves apparently couldn't break one cable and ended up breaking off a chunk of the retaining wall upon which one of the lions sat, he said.
He said Tuesday the recovered lion had been whitewashed in addition to its spray-painted fraternity tattoo.
He intends to press charges if the other lion isn't recovered intact.
Mr. Schneider declined to be interviewed but said in a statement, "As president of the Gamma Alpha Beta fraternity, I apologize for these actions and affirm the desire of our fraternity to be good neighbors to those who live near Augustana. The Gamma Alpha Beta fraternity accepts responsibility for these acts.
"As members of the Augustana Greek system, our fraternity has worked to establish a positive reputation that reflects well on our college and our community," he said. "I am especially concerned about the harm that the actions of our members will do to these efforts. I, and my fellow officers of the Gamma Alpha Beta fraternity, will take action internally to ensure that, in the future, these actions will not be repeated."
Gamma Alpha Beta is not a national fraternity. It was organized at Augustana in September 1917, according to the group's Web site. Its crest includes a lion's head.
Mr. Brill said the college could discipline the fraternity by pacing it on probation, fining the group, shortening its pledge period, eliminating a pledge class or revoking its charter.
"Because Augustana College holds fraternity and sorority officers to a higher standard -- one which reflects the important role they play as student leaders -- the group's officers are very likely to face additional charges and penalties as may be handed down by the Student Policy Committee and/or the Greek Judicial and Standards Board," Mr. Brill said.
The theft of lawn ornaments occurs in cycles in many communities, with the winter holidays and summer being prime times, Capt. Wright said.
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