Monique Garcia
Daily Egyptian
The 10 Southern Illinois University students facing academic suspension after
allegations of hazing last fall claim they are being treated unfairly
by the Student Judicial Affairs because they are black, and one of the accusers
says the punishments are too harsh.
Five members of the Zeta
Phi Beta Sorority Inc. and five prospective members are accused of
paddling, punching, pushing and threatening two
prospective members as part of a potential review process to be inducted into
the predominately black sorority.
One of the accusers, Dominique Winston,
says the hazing did occur but she thinks the punishment is inappropriate. Fellow
accuser Chantal Conley
refused to comment.
"I don't think anybody should get suspended or expelled," Winston said. "The punishment was too severe."
Winston said she did not know what an appropriate punishment would be. Former President Nakia Collins, who faces a three-year suspension, said the punishment administrators handed to a predominately white Pi Kappa Alpha, which was banned from campus last spring after pledge Brent Johnson drowned during a fraternity-sponsored camping trip, was mild in comparison to the punishment being handed down in this incident.
"I hate to compare this to the
Pikes," Collins said. "Because that was a horrible, horrible situation,
but someone died and the only thing that
happened was the fraternity was banned. To my understanding, it didn't go through
judicial affairs, and no one's academic career was disrupted by
what happened."
Judicial Affairs coordinator Terry Huffman refuses to comment to the Daily Egyptian.
Katie Sermersheim, director of Student
Development, the university organization that suspended the fraternity, said
comparing the two
incidents is like comparing apples and oranges.
Last spring, the university found
the fraternity guilty of eight counts of misconduct, four of which involved
alcohol but none for hazing. The
fraternity pleaded guilty to one of the charges. After administrators closed
their investigation, the state's attorney's office found a
fraternity member guilty for supplying alcohol to minors and fined him $200.
Neither the fraternity nor its members had any other legal repercussions.
Sermersheim said the difference between
this case and the fraternity's case is that hazing did not directly result in
Johnson's death, and while hazing
was revealed in the investigation, the severity differed greatly. In the Pi
Kappa Alpha case, the hazing was in regards to a scavenger hunt.
Sermersheim said paddling, in general, is more severe.
According to police reports obtained
by one of the accused, Conley and Winston allege that between Oct. 3 and 6,
they were paddled, punched,
pushed and threatened as part of a potential review process to be inducted into
the sorority.
In the report, Conley said the two
dropped out because of the abuse and a week later contacted Mu Eta Zeta, the
graduate chapter of the sorority,
which conducted an internal affairs investigation into the matter. The graduate
chapter found no reason to believe hazing occurred, at which time
undergraduate members say they were told Conley and Winston would be offered
membership in an effort to minimize the situation. Both are now
official members, but Winston says she was not made a member to prevent controversy.
After going to SIUC Police on Nov.
2, Conley and Winston opted to not press criminal charges but decided to forward
the matter to the university's
Student Judicial Affairs office in January. Both women declined to comment about
the allegations. In addition to denying that hazing ever occurred,
the accused members say the cases against them are riddled with inconsistencies
in regards to the conduct code, specifically the statute of
limitations and jurisdiction.
"It's like there is a student
conduct code for whites and a student conduct code for blacks," Collins
said. "It doesn't make sense; they aren't
following their own rules."
Conley said in the police reports
that the hazing occurred at an inactive member's house. The accused say the
sorority was not undergoing the formal
intake process but was in an observational period to examine prospects.
According to the student conduct
code, if the incident occurs off campus, the university has jurisdiction in
the following cases: when events are
sponsored by recognized student organizations or when students represent the
university. Additionally, jurisdiction applies to off-campus housing if
zoned by the city as a greek organization and displaying its name or letters.
Students can also be held responsible for conduct when in
academic-related settings off campus or conduct that "substantially interferes
with the mission of the university, but not limited to the
educational pursuits of its students, faculty or staff."
The last of 10 hearings ended last
week, with six women given one-year suspensions and four women, including the
former president and current vice
president, facing three-year suspensions. Three other members had hearings and
were cleared of all charges.
The women facing three-year suspensions are Ryan Robinson, Monet Williams and current vice president Teqeira Johnson. Latrice Body is the only member who has been handed a one-year suspension. The prospective members facing one-year suspensions are Krystal Adams, Kimberly Patterson, Jamila Jones, Tashauna Waters and Nakia Moore.
All of the accused have either entered
their requests for appeal or said they plan to do so. They have also contacted
the Rainbow PUSH Coalition and
the NAACP, but both will wait until the appeals are over.
(C) 2005 Daily Egyptian
