Fraternity Ousted Over ‘Abusive’ Party Activity

San Diego State University on Thursday expelled the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity from campus for at least five years and said it will charge 30 fraternity members with a variety of offenses stemming from a party last November at which an 18-year-old sorority pledge claimed she was raped.

The fraternity was disciplined after a five-member hearing panel found it guilty of “physical abuse; lewd, indecent, and obscene behavior; abusive behavior and hazing; alcoholic beverage violations . . . and obstructing the university’s disciplinary process by intentionally destroying evidence related to the incident,” spokeswoman Sue Raney announced.

A local Pi Kappa Alpha leader said the fraternity would appeal the decision within the university’s administrative guidelines and file suit if the decision is not reversed.

“The only rape that took place here is that the university raped Pi Kappa Alpha,” said Ken Smerz, San Diego director of chapter affairs for the fraternity.

The Delta Gamma sorority, which participated in the “exchange” party the night of Nov. 14, was found guilty of violating state alcohol laws. The sorority was placed on disciplinary probation until the university determines that it has improved its methods of assuring the safety of chapter members and compliance with rules governing alcohol consumption by minors.

The hearing panel of three administrators and two students made no attempt to determine whether the woman was raped after the Nov. 14 party. But evidence presented at three days of hearings in January “compelled the board to reach the conclusion that an 18-year-old sorority pledge became intoxicated, and was thereafter physically abused and taken advantage of sexually by members of the fraternity,” Raney announced.

The decision came nearly three months after the unidentified sorority pledge told police she was raped in a private bedroom at the house between 2 and 4 a.m. Nov. 15. After an investigation, campus police said they believed three men had sexually assaulted the woman while other men watched through a window or in the room.

But on Dec. 5, San Diego County Dist. Atty. Edwin Miller declined to prosecute anyone, saying prosecutors could not “prove beyond a reasonable doubt that a rape occurred.” The woman’s family late last month asked the county grand jury to open its own investigation into the matter.