Four ASU GLOs & campus VP star in porno

[hoosier]

Frats star in ASU porn film

The Arizona Republic
Aug. 21, 2002 22:00:00

A pornographic video shot at four Arizona State University fraternity houses and featuring a student vice president has prompted an investigation by administrators who fear it could undermine long-standing efforts to rid the campus of its party school reputation.


The professionally produced video, Shane's World #29: Frat Row Scavenger Hunt 3, features ASU fraternity members performing sexual acts with porn stars.

An ASU staff member told university officials about the video in early July.

"There are clear violations of . . . the student code of conduct," said Virgil Renzulli, ASU vice president of public affairs. "There will be an ongoing investigation into any individuals involved. It's inappropriate for fraternities to permit these kind of things. You can party, but this goes beyond that. This is misconduct."

Bob Soza, dean of student life, said the campus judicial affairs office is investigating Theta Chi, Sigma Phi Epsilon, Kappa Sigma and Sigma Nu, a fraternity already serving a two-year suspension for hazing, for their involvement in the video.

"It goes without saying that this type of behavior has no place in the university setting," Soza said. "(Former ASU President Lattie) Coor in his tenure provided enormous leadership in establishing ASU as a Research 1 university, developing the honors college and undergraduate research. Does this kind of incident cause harm to the institution? Absolutely. It is not tolerated or accepted as part of the standards set by previous or current administrations."

Not an ordinary scavenger hunt

The video apparently was shot last September, when a Shane's World crew pulled up in front of the various houses unannounced in a Hummer limousine and asked members to be part of a sexual scavenger hunt.

The crew, split into two teams of two women each, participated in sex acts with fraternity members to earn points. The team with the most points won the hunt.

Fraternity members never participated in sexual intercourse with the women, but they used sex toys and other objects. Action went from house to house and took place in bedrooms, living rooms, the limo and poolside.

The video even films a dare on a public campus lawn and one in front of Manzanita Residence Hall.

The video is one of the most frequently rented videos in local adult stores.

"It is very popular. We even had to special order more copies," said Alicia Henry, manager of Fascinations at 16428 N. 32nd St. "We get a lot of college age kids in here asking for it, but we get a lot of older men, too."

Student leader plays a role

Sigma Nu member Brian Buck, 23, executive vice president of the Associated Students of ASU, is one of the first participants and is featured in a shower scene.

"I'm not apologizing for anything I did," Buck said. "The way I see it is 200 fraternity guys having a good time. It's not like we planned it, it just happened."

Buck, who recently began his student government duties, said he is not afraid the incident will turn into a scandal.

"It's not an impeachable offense," he said. "I wasn't in office when it happened. It's not like this is Harvard. I can't see ASU students getting too upset about it.

"The only thing I care about is my family. How do you tell your family you were in a porno? They don't pay for me to go to school to be in pornos."

Now, it's just a fading memory

ASASU President Mike Leingang agreed that the video probably won't affect Buck's elected position.

"He (Buck) has put all this behind him and is ready to do the best job he can do representing the students," said Leingang, whose Theta Chi fraternity also participated in the video. "I don't think the (ASASU) senate will want to make a big deal of this."

Leingang said that he did not participate in the video and that the Theta Chi members who did are no longer at ASU.

ASU's student code of conduct includes clauses against the unauthorized use of university property and sexual misconduct on campus or within organizations.

The code applies to all student organizations and individuals, and punishment ranges from probation to expulsion to a lifetime ban from campus.

The video attempted to prevent identification by blacking out participants' eyes and fraternity logos.

The judicial affairs office hopes to wrap up the investigation within the next four to six weeks. Any appeals made would then go to the university hearing board and could take an additional 20 to 30 days.