Excerpt from Kenyon Collegian
After administrators learned of the incident, the DKEs, who began the year on probation after a pledge was injured during last spring’s initiation, will be on continued probation until May 31, 2014.
“During that period of time,” said Christina Mastrangelo, director of student activities and Greek life, “if the chapter violates College, housing or Greek council policy, then it will result in immediate five-year suspension of the chapter from the College.”
According to DKE President Garrett Fields ’12, on Feb 27, two weeks after the incident, Mastrangelo approached the fraternity’s pledges after her office received several reports of concern. “On the day of Greek 101,” Fields said, “Christina [Mastrangelo] pulled our pledges aside because she had heard reports of concern and wanted full clarity. After talking to the pledges, the administration drafted a formal charge.”
“They were not interviewed as a group,” said President S. Georgia Nugent. “They were separated so they wouldn’t have any chance to collude in a story that wasn’t necessarily true.”
Due to their probation, the fraternity has been under increased scrutiny this year. “I had been meeting with the DKEs throughout the fall and spring semester to revise their pledging process and make it a hazing-free new member education program,” Mastrangelo said, “so it was very disheartening to receive such serious allegations.”
Speaking about the incident, Nugent said, “It’s things like that that are getting towards borderline hazing.”
In an attempt to prevent hazing, which Kenyon’s student handbook defines as “any action or situation, regardless of intention, whether on or off Kenyon premises, that results in or has the potential of resulting in physical, mental, or emotional harm, discomfort, or distress to a group’s members or prospective members,” the Greek Council Constitution requires all chapters to submit a calendar of pledge events for review and approval. The DKEs’ calendar contained to no mention of the hazing event.
