UGA fraternity suspended in paddling incident

By Kristi E. Swartz

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The University of Georgia’s Pi Kappa Phi fraternity has been suspended from all activities until further notice and could face removal from campus because of allegations of pledge paddling.

The incident was first reported in the campus daily newspaper, the Red and Black, which obtained documents about the matter.

Mark Timmes, national chief executive officer, proposed a number of sanctions, including immediately suspending Pi Kappa Phi’s charter and activities until Aug. 1 and barring all student members – other than the fall 2009 pledge class – from any involvement with the fraternity for no less than four years.

The university's chapter has 100 members, according to UGA's Web site.

Additional potential sanctions from the national branch can range from fining the UGA chapter, handing down additional suspensions or revoking its charter altogether, Timmes states in his letter, dated Feb. 25.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, however, Timmes sent out a news releases questioning the allegations, which arose out of an anonymous letter sent to the Greek Life Office.

“The authenticity of this letter is highly suspect and appears to be a fabrication or hoax designed to instigate a furor along the lines of the Duke Lacrosse scandal of 2006,” Timmes wrote.  “After a thorough investigation interviewing new members from the class in question, brothers, officers and parents, it appears the allegations are unsubstantiated and we do not believe them to be true.”

“We are, however, able to state that while we found that some paddling had taken place, it doesn’t resemble in any way what was described in the anonymous letter in either context or severity.”

The university began looking into the incident after it received the anonymous letter, reportedly sent by a parent of one of the fraternity members.

In the letter, the parent said his son “has serious abrasions and bruises and cuts all over his buttocks.” The parent asked what happened and was told, “They stood in line and one by one received a severe paddling.”

The parent also said his son had a blood clot and had to miss class to go to the doctor, according to the letter.

In the letter, the parent urged the university to take action against the "few choice" fraternity members but said that "the fraternity as a whole should not be punished." The parent also stated that he has contacted an attorney.

In Timmes’ letter to the campus' assistant dean of students, he states that “we have concluded that paddling of some of the associate members did take place …” but added, “At the same time, we have been unable to substantiate the severity of the allegations asserted by the anonymous letter.”

Had the findings actually matched those written in the letter, "our press announcement would be that we have closed the chapter," Timmes told the AJC.

The national chapter sent in a team to interview fraternity members. Timmes said he was in Athens last Sunday and Monday and also met with a group of parents.

"We're trying to get a sense of scale and scope here," he told the AJC on Wednesday. At this point, Timmes said he hasn't seen any photographs or heard from a doctor who examined the fraternity member mentioned in the letter.

Timmes' recommendations to suspend the chapter were passed on to a hearing committee, which is expected to draft its own set of recommendations to the national board by the end of the week. The national board has up to 90 days to make a decision, but Timmes said he hopes it won't take that long.

The parents of several Pi Kappa Phi fraternity members have written letters to UGA’s assistant dean of students, Brandon Frye, in support of keeping the chapter on campus.

"I would hate to think that an overzealous response to the incident would result in significant sanction or possible loss of charter," Kathy Burke wrote in an email to Frye.

"The pledge class were victims in this situation and fully understand that hazing is not acceptable. They are [interested] in retaining their chapter on campus and in rebuilding it despite the challenges that it will bring," Marianna Napoletan wrote in a letter to Frye.

The university is actively investigating the incident, Eric Atkinson, associate dean of students, said.

"Obviously we’re taking this very seriously," Atkinson said. "Anytime you talk about physically hazing, that has no place in our Greek system."