Bisexual Student Says He Was Harassed by Fraternity

[LatinaAlumna]

This was sent over the NALFO listserve today.


The Highlander > News
http://www.highlandernews.org/news/b...nity-1.1740587

By Alex Maduena, Michelle Hurtado, Trent Smith

Published: Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Updated: Tuesday, November 2, 2010 14:11

When Andy Ruiz decided to join UC Riverside's local Lambda Theta Phi chapter last winter he did so with the understanding that his sexual orientation might cause problems with members of the fraternity.

This is the reason Ruiz, now a second year History major, did not tell anyone involved with the frat that he identified himself as bisexual-at least not right away. When signing up for the induction process, Ruiz marked "straight" on the designated form which inquired after his sexual orientation. When Ruiz did confide his sexual orientation to a fellow initiate, he did not expect word of it to spread.

And when Ruiz was hazed, he said it was because of his status as a new inductee-not his sexual orientation-that he was forced to sleep on the floor of the Lambda house's garage in the winter with other inductees.

And, ultimately, when Ruiz was prompted to seek medical attention after coming close to fainting it was not because of his sexual orientation. Ruiz was suffering from an ear and sinus infection, diarrhea, multiple bruises and was vomiting after meals. Ruiz told the doctors that he had been working out. The doctors concluded that Ruiz suffered from a lack of sleep. It was because of these illnesses-caused by the hazing-that Ruiz dropped out of pledging ceremonies.

But when Andy was publicly ridiculed in front of the Bell Tower, it was his sexuality that became his detractors' point of attack.

Ruiz was at Lambda Theta Phi's "Coming Out" or "New Members Salute" ceremony last March where new inductees-and those who failed to complete the pledging process-were presented to an audience.Ruiz said that members of the audience repeatedly called him a "cock sucker" and said that he liked "disco stick."

Ruiz also said that two members near the front of the audience pantomimed homosexual acts before him and the rest of the audience. It was after this that Ruiz ran to his car.

"I ran to my car and just sat there and began hitting everything," said Ruiz an interview with the Highlander. After some time he called family members to pick him up saying that he was in no condition to drive.

"We're lucky he called us," said Ruiz's sister Wendy Castro, an alumna of CSU Los Angles in an interview. Castro said that she was "disgusted" about what the fraternity had done and called them "pigs."

"You hear in the news about all these suicides around the country by people because they're gay," said Castro in reference to the increased publicity that taunting and bullying related suicides have been receiving.

"They stole something special from Andy [...] I really think that coming out is something you need to do on your own, but everything came out in chaos. His mother fell into depression and his stepfather still doesn't know about it," said Castro.

"What did I do to them? I smiled when I was around them, I travelled around with them, I was an active participant. I don't know why they would do this to me, I don't know what I did wrong," said Ruiz.

In another situation taking place on Sept. 26, a member of Lambda Theta Phi approached Ruiz. Ruiz was at a party at the Sterling Apartment complex when, after having spent about an hour at the party, when the member approached Ruiz.

The member reportedly said to Ruiz that it was because he was gay that the fraternity was facing disciplinary action from the university.

Ruiz is currently in the process of transferring to a different campus as a result of his experiences with the Lambda Theta Phi fraternity.

Carlos Ramos, National Director of Communications for the Lambda Theta Phi Latin Fraternity, Inc. stated in an e-mail that the fraternity does not support hazing or sexual harassment.

"The fraternity will not tolerate or condone any form of abusive or discriminatory behavior on the part of its members, whether physical, mental or emotional in respect to sex, race, ethnicity, physical or emotional handicap, age, marital status or sexual orientation," said Ramos.

A contact for the local Lambda Theta Phi chapter was provided to the Highlander by a representative of Chicano Student Programs and did not respond to multiple e-mails requesting an interview.

The contact did call the Highlander office but allowed the phone to ring only once before hanging up. The phone number appearing on the Highlander's phone matched the phone number of the contact.

The allegations against Lambda Theta Phi place them on grounds for discipline for breaking standards of student conduct. If Ruiz is telling the truth, according to the UC Riverside's Student Conduct website, the fraternity is guilty of codes 102.08, 102.9 and 102.12, which include rules against physical abuse, the "threat of violence or other conduct that threatens the health and safety of any person," sexual, racial and other forms of harassment and hazing, respectively.

The fraternity is currently under temporary suspension as of press-time due to another incident earlier this quarter.

Student Conduct declined to comment on this case as it has been re-opened since last year.
Editorial Note: This is an ongoing story and may be followed by subsequent updates.