Northwestern Suspends DTD: HQ & U Investigating

[DeltAlum]

I did not find any kind of update in the Daily Northwestern today, but here is a link to a couple of letters to the editor:

http://www.dailynorthwestern.com/vne.../4018a4a3c0d3e

It is beginning to sound a bit like the student newspaper may have gone just a little overboard publishing possibily unsubstantiated claims by an anonomous young woman -- although it would be natural for an alum or older member (letter number one) to come to the chapters defense. Not knowing anything really about the woman who wrote the second letter, it's hard to react to anything except the face value of her comments.

Two things make me wonder. First, that I could find no followup in today's student paper. If this were that serious, I would expect to find another story with more "facts" if they were available. Second, if the case were as black and white as the first article seemed to indicate, I think that both Northwestern and Delt might have made much stronger statements about suspension.

Of course, the usual disclaimers that this is all total conjecture on my part and the alleged (although it seems to be admitted) taking of the pictures is still totally out of line.

Finally, the fact that the school has not turned the investigation over to law enforcement and hasn't decided, "where this will be adjudicated," adds more questions than answers.

[DeltAlum]

Originally posted by hoosier
I wonders if the 'watchers' were the other pledges or the brothers?
I think we can say goodbye to another one at NU.

Given the other things that have happened in the interim, let's not rush to judgement just yet. This case doesn't seem to be quite as strong as most we see.

[GeekyPenguin]

Originally posted by DeltAlum
A quick hijack.

One of the things I think we do reasonably well in Delt is deal with the media in this kind of situation.

Two things to note:

In the student newspaper, only the chapter president was quoted. That is the way it should be -- either the Chapter Advisor, the President or a designated media relations member or someone from the (inter)national office.

Second, in statements from the Central Office, there is no stonewalling and no game playing. A high ranking official points out the actions that have been and are being taken, says that he can't yet comment on the outcome of the investigation since it's still in progress, and gives a date when he hopes he can provide more information.

It makes the Fraternity seem cooperative and very above board and gives no reason for a reporter to suspect that anything is being hidden.

So, to review briefly, chapter members should not talk to the media, the media should never be lied to or misled, but rather be cooperative and forthright.

I would definitely agree with you on this point, DA - you guys are doing a fabulous job of handling what could have been a PR nightmare.

I also think this seems fishy. I mean, the girl obviously knew what she was doing, and it seems she consented - when you have sex in the common area of a house, you're going to get busted!

[DGMarie]

Last night on channel 5 news in Chicago they interviewed a girl on campus and she said that : "this does not reflect the actions of the entire greek system." I thought that was refreshing!

But pretty much everyone in the room with me thought the whole story was nuts. The news basically said she went there to have sex and got caught on camera and was mad about it. It was consensual it seemed.

[hoosier]

I think the first letter - from a Delt - continues the real sharp DTD response so far.

--------------------------------------------------------

Letters to the Editor

January 29, 2004


Daily coverage of Delt incident will hurt today's brothers, alums

A story in Tuesday's Daily about the suspension of Delta Tau Delta included serious allegations against both current and former members of the fraternity.

An anonymous Communication freshman, recounting an incident between her and a Delt pledge, said, "Some guy is supposed to have sex with the girl up in their library. I do know they have this tradition. I've heard they've done that to several girls in previous years."

Reporter Jerome C. Pandell then wrote that "the tradition took a strange turn" when 20 other fraternity members entered the room and refused to leave while three members took lewd photographs of her.

As told, the incident is no doubt abhorrent. But the story left the impression that the pledge was simply following a custom endorsed by fraternity members past and present.

That is not the case.

I will not deny that consensual sex took place in Delt's chapter room -- not library as reported -- while I was a student. The participants, however, were fulfilling their lust, not some crude fraternal ritual.

Let me be clear: I applaud The Daily for publishing the accuser's version of events, and for doing so anonymously to avoid resulting harassment. But printing an assertion -- based on unverified hearsay -- that the incident resulted from a "tradition" was irresponsible journalism._

In my view the culprits were those who barged into the room and took photos and, if he was in on the plan, the pledge who lured her upstairs. Now, thanks to The Daily, other current and recent Delt members, especially those on the job market, could well suffer from guilt by association.

Ben Winograd

Medill '03

Former Daily staff member

Delta Tau Delta member

Anonymous woman must look at own actions, not blame others

I was positively astonished by your article "Officials examine incident at Delt." I am a woman, I was at Delta Tau Delta that same night and I consider myself to be a strong proponent of women's rights, especially in cases of sexual harassment and sexual assault. Please keep that in mind when I express what I have to say.

The events stated by the female "who asked to remain nameless" are grossly exaggerated.

She says, "I just don't understand how these people were raised." I find it ironic that, at that time, she was engaged in sexual relations with a pledge on a mattress in a commons room that people trafficked in and out of during the night. Pictures should not have been taken, but perhaps she should reflect on her own immodest behavior before pointing fingers at other people.

She also seeks to inform us that this is a tradition. I am a senior and have known and respected the members of that house for the past four years. I might not know their national secret rituals and formal ceremonies, but I know their unofficial chapter traditions passed down from the seniors we looked up to when we first arrived on this campus.

To the freshman: Thank you for educating us of the traditions of this campus -- you must really have a rich knowledge from all the things you've learned over the past three months.

She also claims she wants to remain nameless. Apparently she does not understand how to handle this matter privately, because if she did she would never have granted an interview to The Daily. I would want to be careful about blaming-the-victim syndrome here, but I cannot seem to find the victim. I only see someone who participated in a consensual act in a public place and was caught.

Jacqueline G.

Weinberg senior

[DeltAlum]

Checked the Daily Northwestern again today, and again no follow-up. In a sense of fair play, here is a letter to the editor which takes the opposite view of the second letter above.

"Freshman's morality irrelevant in examining incident at Delt

Despite Jacqueline G's claim in her Thursday letter that she wasn't seeking to "blame the victim," she missed the central issue entirely.

People at Northwestern have sex; this should come as no surprise. The morality of the freshman is by no means relevant to the allegations that numerous fraternity members disrespected her and potentially damaged her NU experience by taking pictures that now could be making the rounds online.

By no means is every member of Delta Tau Delta undeserving of respect, but part of being in a fraternity is that you are a member of a brotherhood, and everyone in the house, guilty or not, will suffer as a result of this.

I applaud the freshman for speaking out. It's scary as hell taking on the wrath of an entire Greek house, but she made the campus aware of her story.

So can you really blame her for not telling the entire campus her name? Her privacy has already been violated enough.

To Delta Tau Delta: If these allegations are true, and it wasn't a ritual and it wasn't planned, then what exactly were your reasons? Because I'm at a loss.

Rachel Feldman

Medill sophomore"


DA Note: The reality is that in the courts -- but more importantly, in the court of public opinion, the young woman's morality will be questioned. Fair or not, that's just the way it is.

ETA Nothing new in the Tribune or WMAQ (NBC Station) either.

[DeltAlum]

Here's something from Tuesday, 2/3:

Investigation of Delt continues; woman has not filed UP report


By Jerome C. Pandell
February 03, 2004



Northwestern's chapter of Delta Tau Delta fraternity remained on temporary suspension Monday as officials continued to investigate an incident that a female Communication freshman says took place Jan. 17.

Kyle Pendleton, NU's associate director for fraternity and sorority life, said Monday that he had no idea when university officials and leaders from Delt's parent organization, the Indianapolis-based Delta Tau Delta International, might complete the investigation.

Assistant Chief Daniel McAleer of University Police told The Daily on Monday that the female Communication freshman has been in contact with UP regarding the incident, which she said took place at the fraternity's chapter house during a floor party.

"We've heard from her, but she's not filed a report," McAleer said.

The Communication freshman told The Daily last week that about 20 Delt members entered the chapter house's library while she was in there alone with a freshman pledge, and the members refused to leave. She said about three or four fraternity members then took lewd photos of her before leaving the room.

In the days following the incident, the Communication freshman said she was told by other students that it is a Delt tradition for a new pledge to have sex with a girl in the fraternity's library.

But some alumni members of the fraternity have said such a tradition does not exist.

Anil Hurkadli, who graduated last spring, described Delt as "low-key and mature" during his four years at NU.

"I've never heard of that tradition before," said Hurkadli, Communication '03. "We never really were into traditions or anything crazy. People may have thought that we were a crazy fraternity house, but it never was like that."

University President Henry Bienen said in a Friday interview that typically only a few people can get a fraternity in trouble and that the "nontrivial number of not-good things" that cause fraternities to be suspended should not be associated with the whole fraternity.

"Almost every year since I've been here, we've had problems somewhere," said Bienen, who added that each fraternity's national parent organization should be more involved in overseeing chapter activities. "Often, the nationals are not, I think, doing all they could to monitor the behavior of their chapters."

"It's important as to whether there is some sort of 'supervision,' and that supervision often can be done by the nationals," he said.

But campus and national fraternity leaders had mixed opinions on whether national involvement could deter violations.

"I think national involvement on a day-to-day (basis) is unlikely to affect these individual incidents," said Interfraternity Council President-elect Mitch Holzrichter, a Weinberg junior. "National organizations can make a difference over the long term in how chapters respond to violations and sanctions."

Holzrichter, who also serves as advertising manager of the Students Publishing Co., which oversees The Daily, said Delt's parent organization, which has dispatched an official to Evanston to help the investigation, has been very involved compared with other suspended fraternities' nationals. Kappa Sigma's national organization first made contact with IFC at a Spring Quarter hearing to remove NU's chapter of Kappa Sig, he said.

McCormick junior Julius Marchwicki, who is outgoing recruitment chairman for Pi Kappa Alpha, NU's only unhoused fraternity chapter, called Pike's parent organization one of the strongest in terms of chapter involvement.

"Every week or so, anyone who holds a leadership position in the house has a meeting with a chapter adviser who is an alumni," said Marchwicki, who added that an adviser also typically attends chapter and pledge meetings.

"I think the type of involvement not only helps in keeping matters of risk at a minimum," he said. "It also helps with everyday activities, such as brotherhood and rush, especially."

Norval B. Stephens Jr., who serves as chairman of the Delta Tau Delta Educational Foundation, said increased national involvement in a chapter's day-to-day activities would not prevent misconduct, the root cause of which he said is a culture on college campuses that allows students to consume alcohol excessively.

"As the colleges and universities are realizing, they are admitting (students who drink heavily) before we pledge and initiate them," said Stephens, who added that he is not familiar with Delt's suspension. "What we're seeing increasingly across the country is that the alcohol incidents have been not chapter-oriented."

The Daily's Scott Gordon contributed to this report.

[exlurker]

An update from the Feb. 26 Daily Northwestern

The chapter has received sanctions from the national fraternity as a result of their HQ's investigation. It looks like it's very unlikely that the chapter will be closed.

http://www.dailynorthwestern.com/vne.../403db17fad35a

[DeltAlum]

Thanks for posting ExL...

Just back from a week on the road and hadn't checked recently.

Interesting that no sanctions were taken vis a vis the alleged picture incident. I'd sure like to know the whole story -- but we probably never will in order to protect both sides.

It does sound like the victim's allegations were at least discounted.