Greek houses under review, withdraw from Homecoming
October 7, 2014
Three ISU greek chapters are under interim suspension after an incident involving a pairing of chapters resulted in medical and police response.
At least two of the pairings’ houses were involved in the incident. The Alpha Gamma Delta sorority and the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity are under review.
The other two chapters in the pairings were Alpha Sigma Kappa and Theta Xi, according to a March 9 Iowa State Homecoming Facebook post.
President of Alpha Sigma Kappa, Shana Matthews, said the sorority was not under review.
President of Theta Xi, Elliot Rossow, said he could not comment on the issue until after consulting with the national organization.
The Office of Judicial Affairs has put the involved chapters on interim suspension, meaning the chapter members and the chapter itself can be denied any activity on campus if the office deems it unsafe or dangerous to members’ safety.
A bus party on Saturday, Sept. 20 at the Whistlin’ Donkey bar in Woodward, Iowa resulted in the arrest of an ISU student who is also a member of Alpha Gamma Delta.
Police responded to a call at the Whistlin’ Donkey at about 8 p.m. Sept. 20 after reports of intoxicated persons needing medical attention, according to a Dallas County Sheriff’s Office incident report.
When the officer arrived at the bar, there were four buses holding hundreds of passengers in the parking lot, according to the report.
One student, Sandra Sebastian, member of Alpha Gamma Delta, was arrested for public intoxication. According to the incident report, “Sebastian had bloodshot and watery eyes and the strong odor of an alcoholic beverage was coming from her person. EMS was not comfortable releasing her due to her level of intoxication.”
A breath test showed her blood alcohol level was .212.
Sebastian deferred comment to the sorority’s president, Rebecca Kohlmann, who said she could not comment on the matter at this time.
The Collegiate Panhellenic Council required that each CPC sorority read a statement regarding the situation at a chapter meeting, said a greek member. The member wished to remain anonymous because chapter presidents are the designated members of the house who can talk to media.
The statement told members there was an incident involving more than one chapter. A pairing withdrew itself from homecoming festivities to “regroup and focus on [the] well-being of the chapter members.”
The statement also said the office would stay as transparent as possible with all the CPC members and the campus as they find out more information.
Sara Kellogg with judicial affairs said she could not discuss matters during an investigation.
“I cannot share information during an ongoing investigation, as we are still in the process of gathering information and confirming reports and details at this point,” Kellogg said via email.
Alpha Gamma Delta and Phi Gamma Delta, have denied comment on the situation.
“Due to the fact that this investigation is ongoing and we are waiting to hear an official outcome, I am not in a position to make a statement at this time. We are, as a chapter, fully cooperating with the university and our international headquarters on this matter. At this point in time, I do not know when I will have more information,” said Kohlmann, president of the Alpha Gamma Delta sorority.
Trenton Purdy, president of the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity, responded similarly via email.
“This is still an ongoing investigation. Our chapter is fully cooperating with the university, but because there is no official outcome I still don’t feel that I am in a position to make any further comment. At this point in time I do not know when I will have more information,” he said.
-Sarah Muller contributed to this article