By Joseph Barrios
Arizona Daily Wildcat
A UA fraternity was barred yesterday afternoon from participating in any special activities on campus until an investigation of an alleged sexual assault is completed by university police.
Delta Chi fraternity is restricted from participating in Homecoming activities this weekend unless otherwise approved by the Dean of Students Office. A meeting will be held this morning to determine which activities the fraternity can participate in.
University of Arizona Police and the Dean of Students Office are investigating a University of Arizona student's claim that she was sexually assaulted Tuesday morning between the hours of midnight and 3 a.m. at the Delta Chi fraternity house, 1701 E. First St.
The alleged incident occurred after a party which Delta Chi was sponsoring along with five other Greek houses on campus: Beta Theta Pi fraternity, Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity, Pi Beta Phi sorority, Alpha Epsilon Phi sorority and Alpha Phi sorority.
The party, held at the Beta house, 645 E. University Blvd., was broken up by UA police about 11:30 p.m. after a neighbor complained about noise.
Sgt. Brian Seastone, UAPD information officer, said yesterday that there were no further details available for release in the on-going investigation.
The Dean's office investigation is being coordinated by Carol Thompson, associate dean of students. Thompson, who oversees enforcement of the UA's Code of Conduct, said the Dean's office investigation is meant to determine which legal, Code of Conduct and Greek community guidelines, if any, may have been violated at the party Tuesday.
"It could be any of those and all of those," Thompson said. "I'm doing the initial gathering of evidence and sorting out of the facts."
"I think everyone is cooperating to try and get the investigation done and com
mid
pleted," Thompson said. "As a part of the investigation, we've asked the group to be alcohol free."
Delta Chi is eligible to request permission to sponsor some events until the restriction is lifted. The other five Greek houses have also been asked to not sponsor any activities which involve alcohol on or off campus, but will be allowed to continue with their planned weekend activities, Thompson said.
Matt Gore, Delta Chi president, said his fraternity still wants to participate in Homecoming activities.
"The chapter is concerned about the well-being of the individuals involved and feel any additional statements would be detrimental to the investigation being conducted by the University of Arizona Police Department," Gore said in an interview before the decision was handed down. Gore could not be reached for comment after the decision was made.
UAPD held a meeting Wednesday evening for Greek chapter presidents to review enforcement policies for the weekend. Seastone said the Department of Public Safety will enforce "zero tolerance," when officers are assigned to deal only with driving under the influence of alcohol offenses.
Seastone also said about 15 UAPD officers will be patroling various parties around campus all weekend.
Members of the Greek community were concerned the campus would be declared "dry" Ä where all activities on campus involving alcohol are prohibited.
"I think people misinterpreted what was said last night. The sentiment after last night's meeting was that we were going to become a dry campus and that there wasn't going to be any student input," said T.J. Trujillo, ASUA president.
Trujillo said he received complaints Wednesday and yesterday from various Greek community members about the possibility of prohibiting alcohol. But he also said he hopes the concern over the investigation and alcohol in general does not overshadow the purpose of Homecoming.
The Bobcats Honorary, the group in charge of organizing Homecoming activities, has taken measures to prevent unwanted alcohol-related incidents, said Drew Flowers, Bobcats president. He said the Greek community has chosen to regulate itself in an effort to avoid problems.
"If we take care of it before UAPD does, nobody gets in trouble and everybody has a good time," Flowers said.
Flowers said one of the measures taken is to prohibit use of alcohol on any of the Homecoming floats.