IFC hits DTD hard for CPW incident
Prefrosh not actually abandoned
An investigation by the Interfraternity Council has implicated Delta Tau Delta in the incident of a prospective student who became unconscious after consuming too much alcohol during Campus Preview Weekend. The IFC’s ruling imposes a number of sanctions on DTD, which include a one year ban on alcohol in the DTD house, a one-and-a-half year ban on most social events, restrictions on off-campus trips during next year’s rush, and a ban on hosting prefrosh during next year’s CPW.
Some of the fraternity’s members held a gathering in the MIT dormitory Bexley Hall, where they provided alcohol to the female prospective student, according to a statement issued by the IFC regarding the ruling.
The Tech previously reported that Bexley housemaster Robert M. Randolph wrote to the bexley-residents mailing list on Friday, April 9 that a prospective freshman was found unconscious outside McCormick Hall and that “[It] appears she may have gotten the alcohol … in Bexley.”
However, according to T. Ryan Schoen ’11, IFC president, the fraternity members fabricated the story that they found the prefrosh outside McCormick. He said that the fraternity members drove the prospective student to the hospital “when they realized the extent of her condition.”
It appears that the MIT administration is satisfied with the IFC’s investigation and ruling, and that no further investigation of the incident is ongoing.
Kaya Miller, assistant dean of Fraternities, Sororities, and Independent Living Groups and Residential Life Programs, referred all questions about the incident to the IFC and wrote in an e-mail to The Tech that she “fully support[s] the Interfraternity Council process of self-governance, including the Judicial Committee process and findings.”
Tom Gearty, spokesman for the Department of Student Life, told The Tech that he believes the DSL is not pursuing further investigation into the matter.
The Tech reported previously that Stuart Schmill ’86, dean of admissions, wrote to The Tech in an e-mail that, during CPW, “no events or parties with alcohol are permitted, no alcohol is allowed out in common areas, and no alcohol is to be provided to prefrosh.”
“This was communicated to the leadership of the living groups before CPW by the dean of student life, and also communicated to CPW student hosts by the admissions office staff,” Schmill wrote.
In response to the recent ruling by the IFC, Schmill wrote in an e-mail that “we haven’t done a full debrief,” and that he can’t yet comment on policies and procedures for next year’s CPW and how they might change.
MIT Police Chief John DiFava said that there is not currently a criminal investigation into the incident.
DTD’s president, Benjamin T. Bersanti ’10, did not immediately return a request for comment.
A copy of the IFC’s statement is available online at http://tech.mit.edu/V130/N27/prefrosh/.
Natasha Plotkin contributed reporting to this article.