Cal Poly is investigating a concern forwarded to campus administration involving the Alpha Phi sorority, according to Director of Student Life and Leadership Stephen Lamb.
The tip, which came from a “concerned parent,” linked Alpha Phi to an incident that occurred the night of Sept. 28. — the night following the announcement of formal sorority bids.
Allegations arose that an Alpha Phi pledge was taken to the hospital following excessive drinking, but Lamb could not say whether Cal Poly is investigating the possibility of alcohol offenses or hazing.
“There are many levels of concern regarding this incident,” Lamb said.
One concern raised during the investigation, according to Lamb, has been the possibility of involvement of the fraternity, Pi Kappa Alpha (Pike) in the incident. Although the original allegations included Pike in the incident, Pike is no longer a focus of the investigation, Lamb said.
“At this point our investigation has led away from the allegation (of Pike involvement in the incident),” Lamb said.
Pike President Eli Simon said his fraternity had no involvement in the incident under investigation.
“Pike has gone through and cooperated with campus investigation 100 percent, Simon said. “We didn’t have any connection whatsoever to the events that took place the night (of Sept. 28).”
Cal Poly officials intend to release the findings of the investigation within one week.
Alpha Phi officers could not comment on the allegations.
Editor’s note: this article has been updated since its original publication. We apologize for any confusion.
Josh Friedman contributed to this article.
This is complete bullshit. A young, immature girl’s choice to drink until she has to go to the hospital should not lay on the girls of Alpha Phi. This is the first offense against this sorority, and there is no way there should be punishment put on them. Grow up and write about something more important.
I’m with you on that one. The school is on a witch hunt for Greek houses. Sig Ep was kicked off campus for bogus alcohol violations, which the school basically charged them with once the DA decided not to press rape charges against Joe Trupiano.
I’m with you on that one. The school is on a witch hunt for Greek houses. Sig Ep was kicked off campus for bogus alcohol violations, which the school basically charged them with once the DA decided not to press rape charges against Joe Trupiano.
Where’s the articles talking about the thousands of dollars Greek Life raises every year for charity?
Cal Poly wants nothing to do with the Greek system. They make it painfully obvious every chance they get. It’s embarrassing really. The girl drank too much and it had nothing to do with the sorority. It’s called responsibility. Time to look in the mirror. The witch hunt is alive and well.
I agree with the first poster – what’s the point to this article? There literally is nothing to report, besides: “Sorority might have screwed up, but we don’t have any information about it. Oh! The fraternity had nothing to do with it either, but we’re going to name them anyway.” Nothing like some good ol’ mudslinging, right?
Want something to report, Mustang Daily? Ask about the philanthropy events that happen nearly every weekend. Don’t encourage the witch hunt.
The Mustang Daily is new. This is news. They have to write about it. Not saying anything more might just mean that they’re not completely looking to bash these houses? If your told you need to do something by your boss you’re going to do it, it’s the way you do it that’s important.
Where’s the articles talking about the thousands of dollars Greek Life raises every year for charity?
Cal Poly wants nothing to do with the Greek system. They make it painfully obvious every chance they get. It’s embarrassing really. The girl drank too much and it had nothing to do with the sorority. It’s called responsibility. Time to look in the mirror. The witch hunt is alive and well.
I agree with the first poster – what’s the point to this article? There literally is nothing to report, besides: "Sorority might have screwed up, but we don’t have any information about it. Oh! The fraternity had nothing to do with it either, but we’re going to name them anyway." Nothing like some good ol’ mudslinging, right?
Want something to report, Mustang Daily? Ask about the philanthropy events that happen nearly every weekend. Don’t encourage the witch hunt.
If you can’t write an informative article, you shouldn’t be writing at all. Journalism 101?
Why all the anonymity, sorority-girl commenters?
Wait… who’s the real one? Me or you?
Damn independent.
Very well written article. That’s some in-depth reporting right there…
Wait… who’s the real one? Me or you?
Damn independent.
Very well written article. That’s some in-depth reporting right there…
Rather than getting so mad at the reporters for doing their job and notifying the campus about what is going on, maybe we should all be cognizant of the fact that in light of Carson Starkey’s death and other serious incidents that took place last year, Cal Poly would be very delinquent to not take similar situations this year seriously.
In addition, in order to prevent things like this from happening, why don’t you just look out for each other so no one has to go to the hospital? Once that becomes a trend and greek life supports more responsible drinking, maybe the Daily will report about all of your philanthropy.
Rather than getting so mad at the reporters for doing their job and notifying the campus about what is going on, maybe we should all be cognizant of the fact that in light of Carson Starkey’s death and other serious incidents that took place last year, Cal Poly would be very delinquent to not take similar situations this year seriously.
In addition, in order to prevent things like this from happening, why don’t you just look out for each other so no one has to go to the hospital? Once that becomes a trend and greek life supports more responsible drinking, maybe the Daily will report about all of your philanthropy.
G,
I’m going to try and be as nice as I can here while sticking up for what has been some of the best times of my college experience so far.
First: Carson Starkey was a unique example of hazing in which Sigma Alpha Epsilon was removed from campus until the year 2035, and rightfully so. Their actions of forcing people to drink is not representative of the entire Greek system.
This “serious incident” that occurred last year (which I think you’re referring to the alleged rape), I say alleged because it was never proven, and in fact the accusation was later retracted because it turns out it was just some girl that was upset her boyfriend broke up with her. SigEp was then found to be in violation of their own risk reduction policy which is why they were removed from campus, not for a rape..
I do agree with you that people do need to watch out for each other. However, I completely disagree with you on your next statement, Greek Life fully supports responsible drinking as is… I would love if the Mustang Daily would report on some of the benefits of having a Greek system, but they are too happy too only report the occasional poor decision by a Greek that in no way represents the rest of Greek life.
15 out of 16 rapists sadly do not spend a day in prison, and the lack of a conviction does not mean the lack of a perpetrator. Attached is a story by The Tribune that discusses the pre-text phone call between Trupiano and the survivor, and as stated, Trupiano’s reluctance to state if incident occurred before or after the survivor passed out. And no, even if someone undresses themselves or indicates they want to have consensual sex earlier in the night, that does not mean they are not allowed to have sex with them later / sleep with a person when they are passed out. http://www.sanluisobispo.com/2011/06/07/1632997/warrant-reveals-details-from-night.html
that does not mean they are not allowed to change their mind*** / sleep with a person when they are passed out.
Understanding Hazing.
Perpetrators: people who have power and control and use it to cause discomfort or harm, physically or psychologically. They are directly involved and are held responsible for the consequences of a hazing.
Bystanders: Those who are observing but not actively participating in the actions taken by the perpetrators. Bystanders, as a group, have the power to increase or decrease the power and control perpetrated against the victims. Bystanders are effected by and responsible for hazings.
Victims: Those with least status who are receiving the hazing, or who are the targets as defined by particular traditions.
Supervisors: Those who are supposed to be supervising the activities of the group. These people have been given responsibility by an authority to be “in charge.”
Administration: The higher authority that is responsible for choosing the supervisors and for allowing the group to exist. These people are typically considered legally responsible even if they knew nothing about the event.
Community: The larger group, such as a town, or school in which the hazing has occurred. The community also has a responsibility to demand appropriate controls from the administration, and not to blame the victims.
Hazing is considered a crime nationwide. Preventing, investigating, and sanctioning sororities and fraternities for hazing saves the lives not only of the victims, but also the perpetrators. Caught up in a mob mentality these young adults have to live the rest of their lives with the consequences of hazing; which can be legal and physiological, and can affect their education and future careers. I would love to see the Cal Poly Student Community come out and be a role model in preventing hazing, and to stop blaming the victim. Our student body has had enough tragedy and notoriety with hazing in the past few years. Cal Poly is better than this….so lets stop blaming the victim, and let’s work to make sure this never happens again.
You mean Carson Starkey the SAE right? The funny thing is that the fraternity mentioned in this article (Pi Kappa Alpha) also holds an annual philanthropy in his honor to raise money for his foundation. Do your research dude. Greek life is here to better the community, and does so in so many ways.
Get rid of this corrupt Greek Life already…. its terrible that soo many young kids are getting there entire lives screwed up. It all started with Carson Starkey and now it continues even after warning of Greek Life banishment. I’m a student at Poly and after hearing about Sigma Phi Epsilon raping a girl and losing there charter why does this incident with Alpha Phi not surprise anyone?
The only people that care about greek life are the people involved in it. I say banish it and let people be responsible for their own actions. It’s a disgrace to the school and what is the positive gain?
Greek life, you had your chance (multiple times) why do you continue to screw it up? You’re only giving a reason for people to pressure kids into doing things they normally wouldn’t do for acceptance. Get over you’re crying Greek Life supporting members, fanboys/girls, and alumni you know this system is wrong, but you don’t have the guts to say it just because you might lose a portion of your social life…
This “corrupt Greek life”???
You ignorant swine. It is with all of my self control that I keep it at that.. “So many young kids are getting [their] entire lives screwed up”… once again, you ignorant swine… Greek life does not destroy lives.. Here’s a cool fact: 85% of current CEO’s of large companies are Greek. So my FIRST question to you is how the Greek system screwed up their lives?
Next topic: follow up on your stories, SigEp was not removed from campus for ALLEGEDLY raping a girl, they were removed because they violated their own risk reduction policy.. the rape accusations were dropped because it turned out to be some girl that was just upset that her boyfriend dumped her.. Second question: “Does the action of one individual represent the population as an entirety? (Hint: take stats 301 and earn about that)
Next topic: People are already responsible for their own actions! News flash! Welcome to college! Mommy and daddy aren’t holding your hand anymore, everyone is already responsible for their own actions!
Next: Positive Gain. I’d really like to sit down to lunch with you sometime and go over these, it will take a couple of hours so make sure you have some time. Just reply to this if you have the guts to and we can meet up some time, I’ll even buy your lunch for you.
Next: your comments about pressuring kids?? Let’s take a look at almost every single one of our Greek organizations, none of them allow hazing (which is what you’re describing) and some are actually founded on non-hazing principles.
Next: Greek life if not just a portion of our social lives, it is a part of us. Social is just a small part of the bigger picture including Philanthropies (many local), community service, and fellowship.
So I guess the ball is in your court now? I eagerly await your reply, as well as when you’re available for lunch.
“some are actually founded on non-hazing principles” … so there are some founded on”hazing principles.” I wonder what happens to those who get involved with them.. maybe they are the ones that end up at the hospital.
Let’s not pretend the Greek system is all smiles and rainbows. Cal Poly Greek Life causes much more problems, whether it be sexual assaults or excessive drinking, than any benefit. A few philanthropy events don’t make up for all the people fraternities and sororities are putting in harm’s way. Some fraternities and sororities at Cal Poly DO what they are supposed to do and help the community while simultaneously building a brotherhood / sisterhood, but a majority are people with letters who like to party together.
I’m going to make this short and sweet for you, I don’t expect you to have a high level of intelligence based on your arguments. Basically: I’ll take you out to lunch too, try getting in touch with the ignorant person above you and let me know when you both are free for lunch some time, I am eagerly awaiting your reply!
I won’t be wasting my lunch with an individual who calls others “ignorant swine”, and would you like to respond to my post instead of ignoring it? (if you do have an argument, of course)
Oh no! My little girl joined a sorority and now she’s drinking?!? It’s everything else’s fault but hers!
Oh my goodness! I think Andrew is saying everyone is responsible for their own actions! Andrew is definitely a “smart cookie” and it’s nice to stumble across intelligence on here instead of just ignorant comments directed at a stereotype that in no way represents the Cal Poly Greek system. I tip my hat to you Andrew. and to everyone else who is sticking up for what they know that others are too lazy and ignorant to learn that Greek life does NOT fit stereotypes..
What happened to personal responsibility?
This is college, no one is here to hold your hand or make decisions for you. If you drink to much, and get sent to the hospital…who’s fault it that? No one has a funnel down your throat telling you to drink. If you don’t have enough brains to take care of yourself, then don’t put that responsibility on anyone else.. No matter whether you are affiliated or not. This happens every single weekend, but only because it is from Greek life does it get reported. This freshman is just scared to tell her parents: YES mom and dad, I messed up and drank too much. Instead she was afraid and blamed it on Greek Life.
Even if Greek life was taken out of the equation, this would still happen. Its not an affiliation issue, its a problem of irresponsible underage drinking.
MORAL OF THE STORY: It is a matter of stepping up to take the blame and accept responsibility as an adult. GROW UP and if you cant be responsible, then STAY HOME.
I couldnt agree with you more
What happened to personal responsibility?
This is college, no one is here to hold your hand or make decisions for you. If you drink to much, and get sent to the hospital…who’s fault it that? No one has a funnel down your throat telling you to drink. If you don’t have enough brains to take care of yourself, then don’t put that responsibility on anyone else.. No matter whether you are affiliated or not. This happens every single weekend, but only because it is from Greek life does it get reported. This freshman is just scared to tell her parents: YES mom and dad, I messed up and drank too much. Instead she was afraid and blamed it on Greek Life.
Even if Greek life was taken out of the equation, this would still happen. Its not an affiliation issue, its a problem of irresponsible underage drinking.
MORAL OF THE STORY: It is a matter of stepping up to take the blame and accept responsibility as an adult. GROW UP and if you cant be responsible, then STAY HOME.
This is a valid point. In all honesty in comes down to personal responsibility.
This young girl made a decision which ended badly. She now needs to take responsibility of her own actions.
Lets remember that only 10% of campus is Greek, yet there are many others that take part in underage drinking. Being affiliated with a sorority, fraternity or club doesn’t mean that personal choices are forgotten and placed on an organization as a whole.
Moral of story: Hazing is not an issue of irresponsible underage drinking. That is why it is a crime, separate from serving minors alcohol (although also a crime). MORAL OF STORY: The victim was unconscious in the ER when the investigation started, and it was well underway before she regained conciseness, or talked to anyone including her parents. That happens when 911 is called on campus. Moral of story step up and get educated on hazing, especially if you are part of Greek life.
Your right, hazing is a very different issue.. which is why it makes no sense this is being called hazing. Do you honestly think any organization at this school would haze after what happened to SAE and Carson??? Cal poly knows the consequences that have come/ will come from hazing and no chapter in their right mind would allow hazing to take place.. if you think that, you need to get a reality check
If you were to watch the news, you would have known that Alpha Phi international already did their own investigate and publicly announced that this case was not an event of hazing.. it was a group of girls that just happen to be at the same house, and the girl did not know her limit.
Also, before you start making these snarky comments, you might want to consider the fact that if this girl was unconscious and therefore unable to speak- how would they investigate it was hazing? I’m sure she doesn’t go out wearing an Alpha phi shirt.. Even if a bystandard called 911, and reported it this way- that is not a valid first account of what happened. If this was reported in the dorms its pretty obvious they were not there to observe what happened..
I just think it is fair to let all the facts come out- whatever they may turn out to be- before people starting making emotional assumptions and start burning greek life at the stake.
Lastly, if you are just SO education on the issue, you must have been there? Im sure the greek life council would just love your testimonial…
since no information has been released to the public I would like to know how you know that the victim was unconscious when the investigation began. Were you there at the hospital? Do you work for Cal Poly’s Greek Life Office? Or are you basing your opinion on speculation rather than facts? Maybe your uninformed opinion should be saved until you actually know what happened.
Some of these comments are absolutely ridiculous. I’m so sick of campus punishing sororities and fraternities for having girls/guys go to the hospital. AT LEAST WE ARE MATURE ENOUGH TO KNOW WHEN THEY NEED TO GO. If campus continues to launch bogus hazing investigations every time someone, by their own fault, gets too inxoticated, members of the greek community will be too scared to get that member help because it poses a huge risk to their house. If campus wants another Carson Starkey situation to occur then it should keep up with these unnecessary investigations every time someone gets too drunk. Alpha Phi and every other sorority has done nothing wrong. And how dare some of you bring Sig Ep into this. All charges against Joe were dropped and Cal Poly kicked them off for bull shit alcohol charges. Cal Poly is unnecessarily embarrassed of Greek Life and is obviously trying to rid the campus of it which will just hurt them in the end. A lot of students take into consideration whether or not a school has Greek Life before choosing a school to attend–they should keep that in mind.
Some of these comments are absolutely ridiculous. I’m so sick of campus punishing sororities and fraternities for having girls/guys go to the hospital. AT LEAST WE ARE MATURE ENOUGH TO KNOW WHEN THEY NEED TO GO. If campus continues to launch bogus hazing investigations every time someone, by their own fault, gets too inxoticated, members of the greek community will be too scared to get that member help because it poses a huge risk to their house. If campus wants another Carson Starkey situation to occur then it should keep up with these unnecessary investigations every time someone gets too drunk. Alpha Phi and every other sorority has done nothing wrong. And how dare some of you bring Sig Ep into this. All charges against Joe were dropped and Cal Poly kicked them off for bull shit alcohol charges. Cal Poly is unnecessarily embarrassed of Greek Life and is obviously trying to rid the campus of it which will just hurt them in the end. A lot of students take into consideration whether or not a school has Greek Life before choosing a school to attend–they should keep that in mind.
If anyone would like to have lunch and discuss their feelings about Greek life, it’s on me as long as you sit and listen to what I have to say, so the next time you decide to make ignorant comments, I can rightfully say you are detrimental to society, and deserve no part of the Cal Poly experience.
PS: and to you Josh Friedman, I would like to know just how un-interesting your life is that the best thing you could come up with was just a way to put Greek Life in a negative light… I really feel sorry for you..
So much for taking the high road eh Mike? You seem to own this comment board, and every time you comment you talk about being mature and inspiring people to not make ignorant comments. But here you go, blaming the reporter … Sounds to me like somebody just made an ignorant assumption.
Agree.
Read the title of the article: “Alpha Phi under investigation following parent complaint”. The main thing to take away from it is the parent complaint part.
In our society, there is no way in hell that a college can go about doing nothing when someone like a parent complains. If a parent takes the complaint further to any sort of legal action and the college done nothing, it can get in hot water in various ways. Since the fraternities and sororities runs themselves… Cal Poly is left with no choice but to slam down hard whenever anything like this goes down.
Now, sure the girl was stupid for drinking to the point of having to go to the hospital with it all being personal responsibility and all but remember, each each person, club, fraternity and sorority represents Cal Poly. Recall the paragraph above. One screw up by even a single person can damage Cal Poly. It gets worst if a person screws up during a sorority event. Sure they were smart enough to bring her to the hospital but they were not smart enough to prevent it from happening.
Its no secret that people drink underage all over SLO. Just like you cannot stop people from drinking, they tried, no one can stop underage drinking. Period. So drink responsibly. Since us folks at Cal Poly are all connected in one way or another, we all got to have more group responsibility as well.
It be awesome if everyone is responsible for themselves but this is how our system works whether if you like it or not. One group, even one person can screw up things for the whole.
Now for a drink after typing out all that…
This had nothing to do with fraternities – the girls were celebrating their first night together. Naming Sig Ep in this argument just makes you look uninformed.
Groups of college kids do dumb things, it just happens to be that this was a Greek organization. It could have happened to anyone – the only thing that makes this even unique is that the PARENTS pulled the hazing card. Otherwise, people going to the hospital for alcohol poisoning happens at every college campus. Doesn’t mean it’s right, but it’s the way it is.
Everything I’ve heard through the grapevine is that the girl really wasn’t doing too bad. The fact that the parents are throwing the hazing accusation and not the daughter says a lot in my opinion. If it really was hazing (which it wasn’t, the girl just doesn’t know her limit), there would be a lot more information out there about it. You would be hearing rumors. I know if I was hazed, I would be pissed off and report them myself. I wouldn’t wait for Daddy to do it for me.
What looks like happened is the girl got too drunk, they took her in as a precautionary measure, and then the parents freaked out because “my baby would never do that all by herself! She’s perfect!” Now, this is the result. That’s what I’ve heard through the grapevine, so take it or leave it.
I am worried that people are not going to want to bring in potentially sick people to the hospital out of fear of repercussions. The fear of legal action contributed to Starkey’s death, and this isn’t going to help establish the hospital as a safe zone.
Your right, hazing is a very different issue.. which is why it makes no sense this is being called hazing. Do you honestly think any organization at this school would haze after what happened to SAE and Carson??? Cal poly knows the consequences that have come/ will come from hazing and no chapter in their right mind would allow hazing to take place.. if you think that, you need to get a reality check
If you were to watch the news, you would have known that Alpha Phi international already did their own investigate and publicly announced that this case was not an event of hazing.. it was a group of girls that just happen to be at the same house, and the girl did not know her limit.
Also, before you start making these snarky comments, you might want to consider the fact that if this girl was unconscious and therefore unable to speak- how would they investigate it was hazing? I’m sure she doesn’t go out wearing an Alpha phi shirt.. Even if a bystandard called 911, and reported it this way- that is not a valid first account of what happened. If this was reported in the dorms its pretty obvious they were not there to observe what happened..
I just think it is fair to let all the facts come out- whatever they may turn out to be- before people starting making emotional assumptions and start burning greek life at the stake.
Lastly, if you are just SO education on the issue, you must have been there? Im sure the greek life council would just love your testimonial…