August 24, 2008
By DAVID J. MITCHELL
Florida parishes bureau
Published: Aug 24, 2008 - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.
Southeastern Louisiana University has deactivated an off-campus sorority, some
members of which were arrested in an alleged January hazing incident that law
enforcement authorities would not disclose in detail, a university spokesperson
said.
The approximately 15-member Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority
chapter at SLU in Hammond was ordered on June 24 into inactive status for three
years. At the end of that period, the sorority may seek to reapply, Christina
Chapple, SLU spokeswoman, said Friday.
Tangipahoa Parish sheriff's deputies said Friday they arrested eight AKA sisters
at SLU on counts of hazing, false imprisonment or other violations. All eight
were arrested between Aug. 11 and 19, jail officials said.
Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Dawn Panepinto said she could not describe what
incident prompted the arrests but would say only that the incident occurred
on or about Jan. 7 in a house at 18233 Old Covington Highway, Hammond.
Also, Panepinto would not confirm aspects of the incident aired in other news
reports, saying doing so could compromise an ongoing investigation under way
since February. She said the case has been turned over to District Attorney
Scott Perrilloux of the 21st Judicial District.
But seven of the eight arrested woman are the same students who sued SLU in
April in state court to block their suspension over an alleged hazing incident
Jan. 8, federal civil court records show.
According to court documents, SLU student Ariel Ellis accused the seven of locking
her in a room in January, making her take her clothes off, beating her with
a belt and a paddle, asking questions about her sex life and forcing her to
simulate oral sex with a banana.
Ellis recanted her claims two days later and then later reinstated them. SLU
officials asserted one of the sorority sisters urged Ellis to recant, records
show.
Harry Lawrence Daniels III, an attorney who represents the seven women in the
civil suit, said his clients stand firm that no hazing occurred and there is
no evidence that hazing occurred.
On April 28, U.S. District Judge Mary Ann Vial Lemmon dissolved a temporary
restraining order that had briefly halted the sorority members' suspensions.
The suit had been moved to federal court April 16.
Three students involved in the case were suspended for one year, Chapple said.
Two were suspended for a semester and the remaining three were given disciplinary
probation, which allows them to go to classes under certain conditions.
The disciplinary actions depended on the students' involvement, but Chapple
declined to say which students received what actions.
She said the sorority did not have a sanctioned house either on or off the SLU
campus. Chapple also said the alleged incident that led to the university's
disciplinary actions occurred in a private home.
Panepinto and jail officials said those arrested and the crimes with which they
were booked are:
All but Sias are plaintiffs in the suit against SLU, court records show. All
are out of jail on their own recognizance except for Flowers, who was released
on a $25,500 bond Aug. 11, jail officials said.
Based in Chicago, AKA is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year and is
the nation's first Greek-letter organization for black college women.
International sorority president Barbara A. McKinzie is scheduled to speak next
month to a United Nations conference in Paris about the AKA's 100-year "record
of advancing human rights," a news release says.
The conference marks the 60th anniversary of The Universal Declaration of Human
Rights, which honorary sorority member and now-deceased first lady Eleanor Roosevelt
had a role in fashioning.
A sorority spokeswoman said Friday she was not aware of the arrests and that
she was not prepared to comment.
