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Sunday, August 25, 1996

Fraternity prohibited from school-sponsored events; alcohol violations citedBy Scott P. Stimson

Summer Bruin Contributor

On Tuesday, Aug. 20, UCLA officials announced their decision to suspend the Zeta Beta Tau (ZBT) fraternity's charter during the Fall 1996 quarter for violations of university alcohol policies that occurred at ZBT's weekender party in Palm Springs in early June.

The suspension, one of the strongest actions that the university can take, follows the recent decision of the Riverside District Attorney to not file charges against three ZBT members suspected of raping a UCLA sorority member at the party.

The conclusion of the alleged rape issue and the university's decision has allowed ZBT members to end their three-month silence on the issue.

"From the first day it happened, all we wanted to do was to talk and clear our names, but we couldn't because there was a criminal investigation going on," said Jason DeVries, vice president of the UCLA chapter of ZBT.

In a press release distributed last Tuesday, the university described the nature of the sanctions taken against ZBT for the violation of alcohol policies at the party.

"ZBT will be suspended for the '96 fall quarter ... Under suspension the fraternity may not participate in any university-sponsored events except membership recruitment (rush).

"This includes homecoming, chapter social functions, university and Interfraternity Council intramural activities, etc." The statement also said that ZBT will be on probation for the entire academic year and that it must develop educational programs on drugs and alcohol awareness and acquaintance rape and sexual assault.

"These penalties imposed are in no way related to the purported rape incident. This is a very severe set of penalties imposed on the fraternity (ZBT) ... They are the most severe imposed on any fraternity or sorority in recent UCLA history," said ZBT advisor and attorney Gary Schwartz.

"These penalties are focused on the violations of alcohol policies only, and they (the university) never intended to do any singling out of ZBT," he added.

The university pointed out that the pressure for tougher penalties of alcohol rule violations stem from the federal government and not solely from UCLA, said Director of the Center for Student Programming Dr. Berky Nelson.

"Pressure applied by the federal government obliges the university to report alcohol usage and to see that drinking laws are enforced," Nelson said.

"For the past three or four years, colleges and universities have been obligated to report to the government the usage of drugs and alcohol and to give solutions," he said.

When asked why the university did not pursue the investigation of the alleged rape, Nelson said that the university's jurisdiction does not extend to the activities of individual students.

The violation of alcohol policies and the presence of beer kegs, however, is not what sparked the ire of some campus groups. It was the allegations of forcible rape reportedly committed by the ZBT members not one week after several campus women's groups staged a "Take Back The Night" rally and march in Westwood.

"Right after the alleged incident, before anything was really known, (former Undergraduate Student Association Council Internal Vice President) Barbara Brazil was handing out flyers printed on UCLA letterhead with a picture of our fraternity and a phrase saying, 'Are rapists born? Or are they created?'" DeVries said.

In the days following the party and alleged rape, tensions mounted between those who condemned the fraternity for the party and alleged rape and some members of the Greek system.

Its culmination took the form of a June 5 protest and march of 200 students past the ZBT fraternity house calling for an increase in rape awareness at UCLA. Fraternity members left the house before protesters arrived in order to avoid a confrontation, DeVries said.

In a press release distributed in early June, the anger of some groups on campus toward the fraternity was evident. "This rally is a protest of anger, of self-defense, of a campus community enraged at the hard evidence that ... rape is still alive and in our own backyard," said Christina Gonzalez of UCLA Raza Women.

Other women wanted to highlight their perception that fraternities are linked to rape. "We want people to know that this (alleged occurrence) is not an isolated incident," Brazil said at the protest.

While many women on campus directed their anger about the alleged rape toward the UCLA fraternities and ZBT in particular, fraternity members made their own assertions.

"The fraternity system is not a culture that perpetuates rape; (rape) is an ungodly act and in no way, shape or form do (the fraternities) encourage it," said Todd Doyle, president of Pi Kappa Alpha.

DeVries also made clear ZBT's perception of rape and those who have accused his fraternity of being conducive to such behavior. "The stuff the protesters were saying (regarding rape) I completely agree with," he said.

"Only they (the rally members) were yelling at me; nothing had been substantiated. It was only an allegation of rape and they ( the rally members) were calling for our heads!" said DeVries.

The coverage of the "weekender" party by the media and television in particular was perceived as having serious biases by many people on and off campus.

"Media coverage of the alleged rape was biased against the fraternity, condemning it before a formal investigation had even begun," Schwartz said.

"There was blatant misrepresentation by the TV media of what took place in Palm Springs; what the press tried to portray is not what took place," he added.

Throughout the entire ordeal, some felt that the campus remained divided between Greek and non-Greek students. Nelson decried the campus division, saying that the campus has been "polarized for some time. We can take advantage of this opportunity to learn and develop mutual respect for one another," he said.

"It is (students) that are the enlightened members of your generation and if you as the intelligentia cannot learn how to work problems out, then our whole society is programmed to failure," Nelson said.

PATRICK LAM/Daily Bruin

Jason DeVries, vice president of UCLA's chapter of Zeta Beta Tau, says that "From the first day it happened, all we wanted to do was to talk and clear our names, but we couldn't because there was a criminal investigation going on."

Campus News Alert: UCLA Suspends Fraternity Chapter for Alcohol Violations