NORTHRIDGE : CSUN Fraternity Appeals Sanctions

The Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity at Cal State Northridge filed an appeal Friday challenging the disciplinary sanctions it drew last month after four pledges stole the historic marker bell from the San Fernando Mission.

The appeal sets the stage for a March 20 review of the sanctions by a panel of campus fraternity leaders, said Jamie Rigney, CSUN’s activities coordinator. That session will be held behind closed doors by 10 members of the campus’s Interfraternity Council Assembly.

In its appeal, the fraternity argued the sanctions imposed Feb. 20 by another student panel were unfair and excessive. Pi Kappa Alpha--CSUN’s largest fraternity, with about 65 members--faces a one-year ban on recruiting, holding parties and participating in other campus events.

Fraternity leaders have maintained that they had the 1909-vintage bell returned to the mission in late January shortly after discovering the pledges had taken it as a prank. However, the group also has what campus administrators have called a long and unrivaled history of disciplinary problems at CSUN.