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MondAY, OCTOBER 2, 2017
Fire at The Yard leaves 26 students in temporary housing Kira Herzog News Editor
Residents were evacuated from Sojourner Truth apartments at The Yard yesterday afternoon after a grease fire on the 12th floor set off the alarms and sprinkler systems — but according to students on the scene, there was a notable gap between the evacuations of the top and the bottom floors. “The sprinkler system activated, causing water to reach lower floors down to the lobby,” said University spokesperson Neal Buccino. “Residence Life representatives have been on (the) scene since the incident began.” No injuries were reported, but according to Buccino, approximately 26 students were displaced as a result of flooding in their apartments. He said Residence Life has connected those students with temporary housing that will be available until they can return to their apartments. Laura Dengrove, a School of Arts and Sciences senior, said that some individuals were asked to provide a record of the possessions in their apartments as a provision in case of flooding-related damage.
“We didn’t really see anything because we’re on the fourth floor. Apparently there were flashing lights near the elevators but we didn’t get any alarm at all, even though the people above us did,” Dengrove said. “There are some people who have been out here for an hour — we just got out five minutes ago. When you look at the whole picture, that probably isn’t great.” The Sojourner Truth Apartments opened earlier this year and aside from drills, this was the first time that an emergency has forced students to evacuate the building. There are a total of 442 students currently living in the complex. Michael Collins, a School of Engineering senior, lives just two floors below where the kitchen fire took place. Unlike residents on the fourth floor, he said he was alerted to the emergency by a series of alarms. “The first thing that happened around 3 p.m. was we got an alarm that was automated, saying ‘an emergency has been reported’ and to the best of my knowledge it’s the same alarm that happens when there’s a fire drill,” Collins said. “I was cooking when it happened so I
Yesterday, a small kitchen fire on the 12th floor of the Sojourner Truth Apartments led to flooding and mass-evacuation, but students said it took over an hour for everyone to exit the building due to inconsistencies in the alarm system. DIMITRI RODRIGUEZ / PHOTO EDITOR figured I’ll just be quiet and stay in my room — it’s a drill, it happens. Then about 15-20 minutes ago we got an actual alert from a person on an intercom saying ‘all residents evacuate’ it sounded legit so we all left.”
After talking to some of the other displaced students, Collins said he began to realize that everyone appeared to have been evacuated at different times, through different means. “I did hear my friend got an actual person on the intercom first
and apparently that was a lot earlier than in my apartment. She’s on the seventh floor. To me it seems very disorganized and I’m very confused as to what would happen if a bigger emergency actually did happen,” Collins said.
U. sororities speak out against Sigma Chi in unified statement Kira Herzog News Editor
On Friday night, the Panhellenic Council at Rutgers released a statement on the Sigma Chi investigation, announcing that they will continue raising money for the Children’s Miracle Network while simultaneously cutting all ties to the fraternity. The Panhellenic Council is a governing body that represents a total of 1,000 female Rutgers students from 12 sororities. The statement was agreed upon unanimously by the sorority presidents. “We are not going to let the actions of Sigma Chi affect our dedication to Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals,” the statement reads. “Despite our unanimous decision to no longer participate in Sigma Chi’s Derby Days, we have decided to continue our efforts to fundraise for Children’s Miracle Network Hospital as a Panhellenic community without Sigma Chi.” According to the document, all current or past affiliates of Sigma Chi will be effectively banned from attending events hosted by the Panhellenic Council or its individual chapters. Furthermore, none of the Panhellenic sororities will recognize events — social or philanthropic — hosted by Sigma Chi. All current and future events will be canceled.
Following the announcement of Sigma Chi’s probation, the Rutgers Panhellenic Council became the first greek council to speak out on the investigation. The president of Sigma Chi has not yet responded to a request for comment. YOSEF SERKEZ “We will absolutely not tolerate any form of harassment, and if any occurs, we will go forward with taking further action to The Office of Student Conduct,” the official statement reads.
The Panhellenic Council is the first greek life organization to speak out about the investigation. As of press time, the president of Sigma Chi did not respond to The Daily Targum’s request for comment.
According to their Facebook page, Sigma Chi’s mission at Rutgers is to “develop value-based leaders committed to the betterment of character, campus and community.”
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Over the last two years, the fraternity has raised over $500,000 total for pediatric cancer research through “Derby Days” — the second largest philanthropic event at Rutgers. The event takes place annually and was initially slated for mid-November. In terms of the Cease and Desist order itself, University officials confirmed that the disciplinary action was taken in response to an alleged infraction of University policy. For an organization as a whole to be held accountable for a violation, the student conduct handbook asserts that the action has to have been carried out in one of seven ways. These include scenarios where members or officers “permit, encourage, aid or assist in committing a violation,” and situations where members or officers fail to report information about the violation to appropriate University authorities, according to the Standards of Conduct. In response to questions regarding Sigma Chi’s off-campus house, University spokesperson Neal Buccino said the residency has not been affected. “The organization’s house is owned by Rutgers,” Buccino said in an email. “The cease and desist order does not pertain to the house.”