Fraternity Suspensions Upheld

Two USC fraternities will remain suspended from campus activities and three students barred from classes next semester for participating in a March 7 brawl that brought police patrol cars and a helicopter to Fraternity Row, a USC discipline review panel has ruled.

The Alpha Tau Omega fraternity (ATO) is suspended indefinitely but can petition USC for reinstatement in December if it follows such guidelines as not allowing any alcohol in the house next semester, officials said. In addition, ATO’s national organization has suspended the USC chapter indefinitely.

Receiving slightly lighter discipline was the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity (SAE), which can rejoin intramural leagues and campus social events next spring without an appeal.

The suspended students, two ATO members and one from SAE, are barred from clubs and classes in the fall. The university is not publicly identifying the three, said James Dennis, USC’s vice president for student affairs. He said no criminal charges are pending against the students for the incident in which ATO members allegedly knocked an SAE member unconscious, causing a concussion and setting off a melee.