Fraternity suspended after students are hospitalized

By Erin Brodbeck
Collegian Editor
February 21, 2007

On Feb. 12, campus fraternity Phi Gamma Delta (also known as FIJI) was placed on interim suspension after two males were hospitalized with high blood alcohol levels following a party held at the fraternity house Feb. 8.

According to Associate Dean of Students Alan Wendell, one of the hospitalized males was rushing Phi Gamma Delta and the other was a guest who does not attend La Salle.Shortly after returning to the student’s dorm the night of the party, the two males were brought to a local hospital and have since been released.

Members of Community Development contacted the president of the fraternity, junior biology major Kevin Wallace, on Feb. 9, and he denied that the party was a rush event.

Wallace did not return phone calls requesting a statement.

“There shouldn’t have been rushes there,” Wendell said. “If it wasn’t a rush event, then they wouldn’t have been present.”

After investigating the fraternity in preparation for the preliminary hearing Feb. 21, a Community Development employee ran across photos posted on social networking Web site Facebook.com that were taken the night the males were hospitalized. According to Wendell, it was obvious that the males were posing at a party in a house where some members of Phi Gamma Delta live.

“They had clearly been drinking and were drunk in the pictures,” Wendell said. “If students are being put at risk in order to join an organization, that needs to stop.”

Although the photos on Facebook seem to contradict what Wallace told Community Development Feb. 9, they are not treating the pictures as evidence, nor does Community Development in any way monitor Facebook activity.

“There is dissonance between what Phi Gamma Delta told us and what was found on Facebook,” Wendell said.

Rush Week had been taking place the night of the party, and the University prohibits the presence of alcohol at any rush event, even if all attendants are over the age of 21.

Until a decision is made at the hearing, the interim suspension will prevent members of the fraternity from recruiting new members or participating in University-wide events such as intramural athletics.

“We aren’t treating Phi Gamma Delta differently than any other organization on campus,” Wendell said. “Students shouldn’t join Greek organizations in order to drink. If that is why students join, these groups shouldn’t be recognized by the University.”

brodbecke1@lasalle.edu