Disciplinary action announced in Pi Kappa Phi assault case

Rachel Nearhoof

Christian Nopper, a second-year communications major and Pi Kappa Phi member, stands outside of the on-campus fraternity house after the decision was made to impose sanctions against the fraternity.

The University of Toledo administration officially sanctioned six students and the UT chapter of Pi Kappa Phi Fraternity for violations of the Student Code of Conduct.

This announcement came after a two-month Division of Student Affairs investigation looking into events that happened at the Pi Kappa Phi off-campus house on Jan. 24.

“After interviews with nearly four-dozen individuals who attended the party, administrative hearings and hearings before a diverse panel of students and UT employees, the University has identified sanctions for the fraternity and six individuals found responsible for violations of the UT Student Code of Conduct,” wrote President Sharon Gaber in a campuswide email.

The panel found that UT’s chapter of Pi Kappa Phi and six UT students violated the Student Code of Conduct by not adhering to the prohibition of harassment, verbal abuse, physical abuse, intimidation and any other conduct that threatens student safety. However, the students’ misconduct is not being labeled as racially motivated despite initial accusations.

Gaber said UT would not reveal the identity of the six students, but said alleged victim Rayshawn Watkins was not one of the students found in violation.

The UT chapter of Pi Kappa Phi will be on disciplinary probation until May 31, 2017. This will bar them from social events until then and prohibit the admission of new members until January 2017. All fraternity members will also have to attend anti-bullying training and alcohol awareness training.

Ryan Aridi, UT Pi Kappa Phi’s philanthropy officer, said to The Blade that the organization plans to appeal the sanctions.

The six students found in violation of the Student Code of Conduct must attend alcohol awareness training and perform 10 to 15 hours of community service.

Pi Kappa Phi alumnus Andrew DeNucci disagrees with the sanctions, calling them disappointing and damaging.

“Those sanctions help no one,” DeNucci wrote in a Facebook interview. “A fraternity that has been on campus since 1951 will now go a calendar year without being able to recruit new members. Sanctions like that are instituted to bring down an organization, not help it.”

Melaney Goosby, the vice president of the Black Student Union, said she was in favor of the sanctions. She wrote that the sanctions are only a “slap on the wrist for the fraternity.”

“I would like to say that I am glad Pi Kappa Phi was found responsible for the events that took place that evening,” Goosby wrote in an email interview.

The incident made headlines in late January after student Rayshawn Watkins was allegedly assaulted and called racial slurs by attendees at a Pi Kappa Phi party off campus.

DeNucci said the reason the situation became a problem was because it was a “heinous lie that was told, and then spread on social media.”

The day after the party, social media was abuzz with accusations of racism, assault, threats and finger pointing.

The first post to mention Watkins’ alleged assault pictured him visibly injured and was tweeted @UToledo, which is how Gaber heard about the incident.

Gaber said the media buzz that the incident created was a very important reason why the student conduct investigation process took time and effort not to “rush to conclusions.”

“I am keenly aware that in an environment heavily clouded by alcohol, intolerable words and phrases may well have been used, Gaber wrote. “The 45 interviews provided conflicting views of what occurred.”

Initially, Gaber addressed the incident after it began to escalate with social media threats. She sent a campuswide email, stating UT would not tolerate physical violence or discrimination and that an investigation was underway. UT would not give a statement including information about what happened at the party or whether the alleged assault was racially motivated until after the investigation.

Gaber said it is still hard to tell whether or not the incident was racially motivated, even after the investigation.

“I wasn’t there to know what actually occurred,” Gaber said. “The fraternity was found in violation of intimidation and bullying, so as one might suppose with a group of college students who had something to drink things were said, and what that is, I may not ever know.”

The incident sparked a racial conversation on campus because Watkins claimed he was called racial slurs and fraternity members defended themselves from being labeled with accusations of racism.

“What people don’t realize is that when an accusation is made against a fraternity, every single member’s life changes from that point forward.… The fraternity is the one that is placed on suspension, pending an investigation,” DeNucci wrote. “Regardless of the outcome of the investigation, you can’t give those members and that organization their time back.”

Goosby said she believes if the same sort of incident happened at the Pan-Hellenic Council fraternity house that the “repercussions would have been much more severe.”

“I’m not in a position to say if the incident was or was not racially motivated,” Goosby wrote. “Regardless if the assault was racially motivated, students felt it was racially motivated because of how previous incidents at our school have been handled before.”

Gaber said that this incident did not jumpstart current diversity initiatives, but only plays into the ongoing campus conversation.

“I think the event in some ways is a galvanizing event. We had already gone down the process of initiating a diversity plan,” Gaber said. “This event then stood up and said ‘Here’s an issue that happened’ … it gives us more feedback into our need for a diversity plan and some of the outcomes associated with the diversity plan.”

Even though UT’s chapter of Pi Kappa Phi was not charged with discrimination or prejudice, the conversation around the issue still seems to be centered on race and diversity.

“I would like to point out that this incident was initially reported as a racially charged assault, but how come when it is proven through investigation that race had nothing to do with this, President Garber [sic] and her administration are quiet?” DeNucci wrote. “She is pushing an agenda … and for that she should be ashamed.”

Goosby said it showed UT’s diversity problem.

“The incident in my opinion shed light on the fact that UT has a segregated campus,” Goosby wrote. “We have a serious diversity issue and this incident placed pressure on UT administration to act quickly to rectify the problem.”

Gaber said it is important to let everyone voice their opinion.

“I think we are responsible for making sure that everybody on this campus feels like their voice is heard, they’re safe, they’re welcomed, they’re included and that we have to continue to do more and I think for as bad as this situation is,” Gaber said. “And I know there has been lots of buzz about it, what it is doing is helping us collective talk about what happened and how we can be better in the future.”