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began to have an asthma attack after being paddled by some Gammas. She said that they did not
take him/her to get medicine or any type of medical attention until after s/he had passed out. I
told him/her that I was sure that the Gammas meant no harm and that it was all in good fun, but
that these allegations were serious and should be looked into. As soon as Pat left my office, I
called the police as required by law. You can’t imagine how confused I was when the police told
me that Pat had recanted his/her statement. I closed the investigation because campus security
cannot base an investigation on what was admittedly a lie.
This is not the first time that I have received a complaint about Gammas where the
complainant has changed his or her story. In order for us to use campus resources to investigate
an incident of hazing, we must get a report from a complainant. If that complainant recants, then
it is a waste of time for campus security or the local police to investigate when there are other
things to which they can devote their time, like campus security. Because there are no records
of recanted allegations, I do not know how many times a complainant has come to me specifically
about hazing at Phi Gamma and then changed his or her story. Perhaps a couple of the
allegations that have been made included a bit of truth, but it is just not fair to investigate a
reported incident when the accuser won’t stick to one story. The accused would have to go
through the humiliation of the campus tribunal and would be at risk of expulsion as a result of
a story we cannot be sure is true. I refuse to ruin someone’s future by putting something false
on their permanent academic record, especially the bright futures that most of the Gammas have!
Milan came by my office on the Thursday before her death and said she had something to
tell me about the situation with Pat. She said that she did not have time to talk but she would
come back on Monday. When Milan left my office, I immediately called Chris to find out what
was going on. I told him/her that Milan had some information for me and that if it had anything
to do with hazing, I would suspend the fraternity and bring Chris before the campus tribunal.
Convention