College News Roundup

Frat Brothers Convicted of Assault

Two University of Pennsylvania fraternity members were convicted of simple assault and harassment on Nov. 20 for allegedly beating a prospective member and "branding" him with a rubber band last September.

Martyn P. Griffen '07 filed the criminal charges against Kelechi Okereke '07 and Lionel Anderson-Perez, an education graduate student. Griffen claimed that Okereke and Anderson-Perez had beaten him and three other pledges for allegedly breaking fraternity rules on pledging.

Griffen also filed a civil suit against Okereke, Anderson-Perez, and the now-suspended Penn chapter of their fraternity, Alpha Phi Alpha. He is currently awaiting a ruling as to whether or not he should sue the fraternity's national organization as well.

Robert Sachs, Griffen's lawyer in the civil suit, praised the outcome of Okereke and Anderson-Perez's trial.

"It confirms that the conduct engaged in by Okereke and Anderson-Perez was a violation of Pennsylvania law, and it also was a clear violation of the University's anti-hazing policies and the fraternity's anti-hazing policies," Sachs told the Daily Pennsylvanian.

The fraternity members were acquitted of two other charges of criminal conspiracy and violating an anti-hazing statute. They were sentenced to nine months of probation.

Dartmouth Admins Apologize to Native American Students

Within a 24-hour period last week, both Dartmouth President James Wright and Director of Athletics and Recreation Josie Harper published apologies for incidents on campus that offended several Native American students.

Wright's Nov. 20 e-mail to the Dartmouth community, addressed a "series of racist and insensitive incidents" towards Native Americans such as a "cowboys and indians" themed dance and the disruption of a Columbus Day drum ceremony.

Wright said that he had met with Native American students to discuss the incidents. "They start to worry whether they are welcome here, worry whether people care," he told the Dartmouth, the university's student newspaper.

While Wright acknowledged that free speech protected offensive comments, he urged students to speak out against such comments.

The next day, Harper published a letter in Dartmouth apologizing for the participation of the University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux in a Hockey Tournament the college will host in December.

"When we scheduled UND nearly two years ago to participate in our tournament, we did so without considering their team's nickname and symbol. Perhaps we should have, but I deeply regret that we didn't," he wrote.

Harper added that he was "considering a policy for scheduling athletic contests against institutions that support offensive nicknames and symbols."