The Hofstra Chronicle, Vol. 81, Issue 17. April 19, 2016

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HEMPSTEAD, NY VOL. 81 Issue 17

The Hofstra

Chronicle

Tuesday april 19, 2016

KEEPING THE HOFSTRA COMMUNITY INFORMED SINCE 1935

TKE suspended through spring 2017 semester

By Michael Ortiz NEWS EDITOR

Mere hours after being cleared of hazing charges, the fraternity Tau Kappa Epsilon (TKE) found out they were suspended again. TKE has been suspended through the 2017 spring semester for violating the terms of the temporary suspension that were in place as the University investigated the organization for the hazing allegations. According to Andrew Garcia, the president of TKE, the organization was found “responsible” by the Office of Student Leadership and Engagement (OSLE) for hosting two unsanctioned events. This violated the suspension active at the time the Department of Public Safety was investigating the allegations.

Jack Ferrell, a sophomore who was a member of TKE’s fall 2015 pledge class, allegedly accused the organization of hazing him as he went through the process of becoming a member. According to Garcia, Ferrell depledged suddenly five days into the process. “After the process was done, and everything was finished, he came out with hazing allegations against us,” Garcia said. “He had a lot of claims against us but he really had nothing to back them up with.” The allegations initiated just before Thanksgiving break and that is when the temporary suspension was issued. The investigation was conducted, and a hearing was held in mid-February. TKE maintained innocence and defended themselves at the proceedings. Since there was a lack of

evidence to support Ferrell’s claims, the organization was found not responsible by OSLE for the charges against them. “Since he really had nothing to back up his claims, we won the hearing pretty easily because it was everyone’s word against his own and he didn’t have any evidence of what he was saying,” Garcia said. Ferrell declined to comment, and asked that The Chronicle refrain from contacting him again. Just as the members of TKE were celebrating, hours after receiving the verdict, they received a troubling email from Sara Diem, the assistant director for OSLE. “Chapter Presidents,” the email states, “Please be aware that as of today, February 12, 2016, no fraternity or sorority may co-host an event with or attend an event

hosted by Tau Kappa Epsilon Fraternity. Enjoy your weekend.” Garcia was shocked, “We got hit with that email with no context at all and then of course everyone started freaking out about it,” he said. He then emailed Diem to find out why this email had been sent to all Greek life presidents. Diem informed him that he should have received an email previously from Nestor Melendez, the assistant dean of students and director of OSLE; an email Garcia says he didn’t get. “She had to send it to me because I wasn’t cc’d in the original email,” Garcia said. “Basically it was an email saying that we were back on temporary suspension for violating our previous suspension.” Although the organization was not found responsible for hazing,

they were found to have had two social events during the time of the investigation, a clear violation of the suspension in place. “As the semester went on, we knew that these hazing allegations were not true,” Issac LeSage, TKE’s historian, said. “We knew we were going to beat that case, at least we were fairly certain. So we had a mixer with Danceworks and someone uploaded a picture and [Ferrell] caught it.” TKE admitted to having these events while they were suspended, something they say they regret. However, how this came to light is just another twist in the story.

To clarify, Brian “Pena” is a pseudonym that an unidentified person created in order to send apparently false evidence to OSLE. The person explained to Garcia via email that he was a friend of Ferrell’s and Ferrell asked him to send those emails. “I sent them two pictures of pregames TKE had while not on suspension in December and told them that the pregames were during the suspension (with random made up dates) which was a lie. I also said they had alcohol in their cups... they did not. I said they were hazing their pledges... they were not. I do not live with them and I do not even know them. Everything I e-mailed

the school is false and fabricated,” “Pena” wrote. The legitimacy of those claims, or lack thereof, did not seem to affect OSLE’s decision. According to Garcia, the governing body followed through with the investigation and after speaking with several people from other organizations involved in the events, found them to be responsible. OSLE will not comment on the details of any investigation they perform, however OSLE administrators explained, “[TKE] violated a section of their temporary suspension, that was communicated to their organization in the letter sent.” The Dean of Students Office released a statement that said, “The Office of Student Leadership and Engagement (OSLE) is committed to supporting all of our fraternities and sororities in their endeavors. To provide this support, we’ve worked towards creating a baseline for chapter performance for each of our

recognized organizations. We do this in many ways, one of which is through our Letters with Pride Assessment program. The program is designed to hold chapters accountable in a variety of areas, including: Academic Achievement, Membership Development, Recruitment and Retention, Chapter Management, and Campus and Community Involvement.” Although “Pena” recanted the accusations, TKE did admit to violating their suspension, and were found responsible of doing so. However, they feel the punishment, especially considering how the evidence came about, was unfair. “To finish out this semester suspended for doing that would have made sense,” LeSage said. “I would have said, ‘Yeah we broke the rules.’ But the fact that

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False evidence allegedly provided to OSLE in case against TKE The day after Garcia learned TKE had been placed on suspension yet again, he woke up to another concerning email signed by someone calling themselves Brian Pena. “In the email – it was also sent to Sara Diem and Sofia Pertuz, the dean of students – it said that he had sent in accusations about a bunch of things of us violating our previous suspension, and also accusations of more hazing,” Garcia said. “It said he made all this stuff up, sent it in to OSLE and that this kid Jack Ferrell told him to make it all up. He also said Brian Pena is an anonymous email so Brian Pena is not even a real person.” In the email, the individual (who from hereon will be referred to as “Pena”) expressed deep regret for his actions and asked that the information not be used against TKE. It is unclear when “Pena” initially submitted the information to OSLE; however, this is the first time TKE members were made aware of this development.

“I am saying the information I had reported was false. I had no evidence of anything because Jack Farrell just made up lies and told me to send them in,” “Pena” wrote. “This organization is being wrongfully punished because of lies and the e-mails I sent which had wrong dates and wrong names that were not true,” it continued, “This is legally punishable by law to use a false report from an anonymous e-mail and I will take legal action if the school uses my e-mails in anyway to punish any organization. Please disregard my report and my previous e-mails.” Pertuz responded, saying the information had been received and is being investigated. “If you have nothing new to report, there is no need to send any other communication,” she wrote. The emails that “Pena” originally sent to OSLE contained pictures of the unsanctioned events, with the names and ages of the people allegedly in the photos.

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