Fraternity Asks Reversal of Its SDSU Expulsion

Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity appealed to San Diego State University Monday to rescind its expulsion from campus for sex and alcohol offenses stemming from the alleged rape of an 18-year-old sorority pledge at a party last fall.

The fraternity, barred from the school early this month after a hearing by a panel of three administrators and two students, filed its formal appeal with Dan Nowak, SDSU vice president for student affairs.

After three days of hearings in January, the panel concluded that the freshman pledge became intoxicated at a Pi Kappa Alpha party Nov. 14 and then was “physically abused and taken advantage of sexually by members of the fraternity.”

In expelling the fraternity from SDSU for at least five years, the panel found it guilty of “physical abuse; lewd, indecent and obscene behavior; and obstructing the university’s disciplinary process by intentionally destroying evidence.”

The woman, who withdrew from SDSU after the incident, said she was assaulted when she became woozy and laid down after drinking a punch she believed to be non-alcoholic.

Fraternity members have denied the allegations of the woman, claiming she voluntarily had sex in a private bedroom after knowingly drinking alcoholic beverages and smoking marijuana. The national Pi Kappa Alpha organization has declined to revoke the SDSU chapter’s charter while the case is being appealed.

Nowak’s review of the hearing panel’s expulsion order represents the fraternity’s “ultimate appeal” within the university, said Sue Raney, an SDSU spokeswoman. University President Thomas Day is likely to offer input to the decision, but Nowak’s ruling cannot be appealed to Day, she said.

The Delta Gamma sorority, in which the alleged rape victim was a pledge, was placed on disciplinary probation by the panel. The university also issued administrative charges against 30 members of Pi Kappa Alpha for offenses related to the party. The students could be expelled, suspended or placed on probation.

Campus police who investigated the incident concluded that three men had sexually assaulted the woman while others watched. But San Diego County Dist. Atty. Edwin Miller declined to file criminal charges, saying he could not “prove beyond a reasonable doubt that a rape occurred.”