According to Carla Lapelle, interim dean of student affairs, the review found that two citations were issued to fraternity houses by the Huntington Police Department—both for violations of the city’s noise ordinance. Additionally, due to those citations, the city revoked a waiver for amplified sound previously issued to a fraternity for an event on Aug. 28.
No other citations were issued by law enforcement agencies. The review found no evidence to support media reports of incidents of alcohol poisoning, underage drinking and obstruction of justice at the parties.
Lapelle added that there was originally a report of an assault at one of the parties but that her office has not yet received a written report of that investigation from the Huntington Police Department. She said that incident will be dealt with separately once her office has had an opportunity to review the police report.
“We did see photographs from the parties and talked to the Huntington Police Department, and were able to confirm that hundreds of students at the parties did spread across Fifth Avenue, blocking the street, and had to be dispersed by law enforcement officers. No arrests were made and it’s our understanding that the majority of students were cooperative,” she said.
She said Office of Student Affairs staff members interviewed the presidents of all the fraternities and it was determined that no fraternity would be singled out for sanctions because it appeared that all the fraternities located on Fifth Avenue were involved in the incident.
As a result of the findings, the university is requiring all chapters to complete a risk management/party hosting training course. The trainings were scheduled to begin yesterday and must be completed before the fraternities can host social events.
There will be a three-step disciplinary system for any chapter that does not follow the guidelines covered in the training. The first violation will result in probation for a semester. The second violation in a calendar year will result in suspension for a semester. The third violation in a calendar year will result in loss of chapter status at Marshall University.
In addition, at its meeting Tuesday evening, the university’s Interfraternity Council, which is comprised of representatives from each chapter, passed a policy that will prohibit fraternities from having any event with alcohol during the week before classes begin and the first week of classes. The policy also requires any fraternity recruitment events during the second and third weeks of classes to be alcohol-free. Sanctions for breaking the policy are the same as those outlined above.
Lapelle said, “I’m pleased our fraternities have stepped up to the plate on this issue and have chosen to be campus leaders. Our Greek organizations do a lot of good at Marshall and in our community, so their example of meeting the challenges they were faced with related to this incident will serve as a good example.”