Greek leaders call for action from administration

Nearly a month after a fight broke out between brothers of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity and… Nearly a month after a fight broke out between brothers of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity and students who identified themselves as football players, members of Pitt’s Greek community are still waiting for Pitt’s administration to become involved.

“I think the Greek adviser would have helped [the process] along,” Interfraternity Council President Steve Mihlfried said, suggesting that a full-time adviser might be able to bring about a resolution to the situation.

Former Greek Adviser Anita Triggs’ March resignation has left Pitt’s Greek system without an adviser or interim adviser for more than two months. Associate Dean of Student Affairs Birney Harrigan has taken over the responsibilities of Greek adviser during the past few months, and Vice Provost for Undergraduate Studies and Dean of Students Jack Daniel has taken over the responsibility during Harrigan’s two-week stay out of the country.

The April 16 fight, which occurred at the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity house on Fraternity Hill, sent three students to the hospital for treatment. The worst injury was a fractured orbital bone — a facial bone near the eye — that later required an operation, according to Pitt Police Chief Tim Delaney.

Mihlfried said that when the fight initially broke out, it was the fraternity’s responsibility to contact the police. Once the police became involved in the investigation, however, the responsibility for certain internal actions would lie with the Office of Student Affairs, Mihlfried said.

Fraternity brothers called the police when the fight escalated, according to Zack Schenkemeyer, who was working the door of the fraternity house on the night of the fight.

Several days after the incident, Assistant Athletics Director for Media Relations E. J. Borghetti said the athletics department was aware of the incident involving football players and was conducting its own investigation.

Borghetti urged people not to assume that any individual acted as an aggressor until investigations are complete, adding that it wouldn’t be fair to speculate on any possible sanctions if charges are filed. He said he had no additional statement to offer, and that no member of the football team wishes to come forward and speak about the allegations at this time.

The Pitt police officers who arrived at the scene did not witness any of the assaults, and no arrests were made at that time, according to Delaney. None of the identities of the students involved have been released, but Delaney confirmed that more than 20 students were involved in the incident.

Delaney said Pitt police were not called until the fighting had moved from the doorway of the fraternity house to the outside. City police also responded to a call from the cell phone of a partygoer inside the house, Delaney said.

Delaney explained that those involved could face criminal charges and judicial board punishment for breaking the Student Code of Conduct.

Mihlfried emphasized the importance of Student Life’s role in handling violations of the code of conduct.

“It would involve the Office of Student Life, because it was a violation of the Student Code of Conduct,” he explained, adding that he thought the administration should probably get involved in sorting out the incident.

“I’m not sure if they’re waiting for us to say what charges we’d like to file,” Mihlfried added.

Student Government Board member and Pi Kappa Alpha brother Matt Hutchinson also called for action from Pitt’s administration.

“We felt that if we, as a fraternity, had gone and acted against another fraternity, action would have been taken against us,” Hutchinson said, adding that his fraternity brothers felt that action should be taken against those who caused the fight at Pi Kappa Alpha.

“We’re disappointed that there hasn’t been any action taken,” Hutchinson said, referring to action initiated by Pitt’s administration.

“I don’t think that we should have to search out our acting Greek adviser for help,” he added.

“I would have liked to see initiative on their part, to help out and get involved, and show us that they care,” he said.

Several days after the incident, Hutchinson said that the fraternity had not received any additional contact from the University, but that he hoped Harrigan, who is currently assuming the duties of Greek adviser, would get involved.

“I certainly hope Birney Harrigan will help us out on this,” Hutchinson said shortly after the incident. “That’s her role.”

Harrigan did not return a call from The Pitt News shortly after the incident, and she is now out of the country. Daniel did not return a call for a comment, but he said a week earlier that he had not been contacted about the fight, and had no knowledge about it beyond what he had learned from reading newspaper reports. He said he did not know of any requests for assistance directed toward Harrigan.

“If there is a student with a concern, they should contact me directly,” Daniel said at the time.

Delaney is still working to figure out the details of what happened and whether criminal charges will be filed, and he said there is nothing new to report on the progress of the investigation.

Delaney could not speculate on how long the investigation would take because of its thorough nature, but he said that the investigation had been slowed down by finals week and the summer break, which made students more difficult to contact for interviews.