Monday, February 24, 2014
The Daily
Mississippian
Vol. 102, No. 93
The Student Newspaper of The University Of Mississippi | Serving Ole Miss and Oxford since 1911
Judicial process begins, FBI takes over Students express concern about Greek life after incident BY ADAM GANUCHEAU dmeditor@gmail.com
The student judicial process began Friday to determine possible university punishment for three students suspected of involvement in desecrating the James Meredith statue last week. As of Sunday evening, the students had not been charged with any crime. However, the student judicial process can occur even without criminal charges filed against the suspects. “No official university action has taken place regarding suspension or expulsion of the students involved,” UM Communications Director Blanton said. “The process of determining whether the students violated the university conduct policy is definitely underway, and we believe it will move pretty quickly.” The FBI took complete control of the investigation on Friday, and the University Police Department will assist in the investigation. “We reached out to the FBI to assist us when we first learned about this,” Blanton said. “Now, they have basically switched roles. UPD is assisting the FBI with the investigation.” The FBI was unavailable for
BY ADAM GANUCHEAU dmeditor@gmail.com
THOMAS GRANING | The Daily Mississippian
A student holds the hand of the James Meredith statue during a protest at the University of Mississippi last Tuesday.
comment Sunday. The three suspects were freshman members of the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity at Ole Miss. The fraternity was indefinitely suspended by the Sig Ep national headquarters Friday and asked that all fraternity activities cease, according to a Sig Ep press release. “I learned about their in-
volvement on Wednesday afternoon,” Sig Ep President Jeremy Smith said. “By Wednesday night, the chapter had voted to expel all three (from the fraternity), and we reported the information to the university and authorities.” An anonymous source gave The DM the names of the three suspects believed to be involved,
but The DM has not been able to confirm the names. When contacted on Sunday, Blanton, Smith, University Police Chief Calvin Sellers and ASB Judicial Chair Harrison Crabtree said they could neither confirm nor deny the names. Follow @thedm_news and theDMonline.com for any developing information during the day.
UM student journalists honored BY GRANT BEEBE beebe.thedm@gmail.com
Editorial staff of the Student Media Center and other representatives of The University of Mississippi attended the Southeastern Journalism Conference this past weekend at the University of Louisiana-Lafayette, winning 20 awards in Best of the South competition and a championship title for on-site competition. The Daily Mississippian managing editor Phil McCausland placed first place in feature writing, photography editor Thomas Graning placed first in sports photography and photographer Phillip Waller placed first in news photography. See JOURNALISTS, PAGE 4
OPINION: Where do we go from here, Ole Miss?
THOMAS GRANING) | The Daily Mississippian
Student journalists pose for a photo after an awards banquet at the Southeast Journalism Conference Friday.
RebelTHON raises money for Le Bonheur
We need productive
SPORTS: Diamond Rebs take series from Georgia State
outrage
See Page 2 & 3
News spread Friday that the three suspects the university is seeking in the Meredith statue investigation were members of the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity at The University of Mississippi. The fraternity, known as Sig Ep, expelled all three members immediately, and the fraternity’s national headquarters indefinitely suspended the chapter while the investigation is underway. Some students at Ole Miss are discussing the role that Greek life plays in fostering racial problems on campus. “It is challenging to directly identify the root of the problems that African-American students experience at Ole Miss, particularly those related to race,” said Quadray Kohlheim, president of the Ole Miss Black Student Union. “However, history itself gives proof that members from (Interfraternity Council) Greek life contribute heavily to this issue.” The Interfraternity Council, commonly referred to as IFC, is the group of 16 traditionally-white fraternities on campus. There are three traditionally-black fraternities on campus, but they fall under National Pan-Hellenic Council, not the Interfraternity Council. Before the allegations became public, the presidents of all 16 Interfraternity Council fraternities on campus signed a letter Thursday condemning the desecration of the statue. Kohlheim said he believes the culture of Greek life in general allows “a homogenous mindset” that leads to acts of racism and See GREEK, PAGE 4
MORE INSIDE Opinion ..............................2 News ..............................4 Sports ..............................8 thedmonline . com
See Page 5
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