In one week’s time, Alpha Tau Omega President Patrick McConachie went from planning to host one of UCF’s most successful philanthropies, to fending off TV news reporters and fighting an emergency suspension imposed by UCF — without first even holding a hearing.
On Tuesday, McConachie stood before his peers and emphatically denied the hazing allegations against his fraternity.
“They are just allegations and I will tell you they are false. We are moving forward with the student conduct process. We will act in accordance with any university request,” he said during a Greek “all presidents” meeting, the first since the hazing scandal rocked campus.
Since then, KnightNews.com has learned more details about the timeline surrounding UCF’s emergency action, and it raises more questions than answers about what exactly prompted that extreme step.
Although an official complaint, which has since been made public, was filed with UCF’s Office of Student Conduct on Nov. 8, we now know that an initial complaint was made by anti-hazing speaker David Stollman back on Nov. 5.
Exactly what was discussed during that initial Nov. 5 complaint has not been made public, but whatever was relayed prompted UCF to take immediate action by issuing ATO an emergency suspension letter on Nov. 6, the very next day.
The emergency suspension without a hearing is anything but routine and can only be done in “unusual cases” which dictate a decision for the health and safety of any part of the UCF community or its students, according to UCF’s Golden Rule.
COULD UCF KNOW MORE THAN WHAT PUBLIC RECORDS SHOW?
Because the information UCF received in the initial Nov. 5 complaint hasn’t been made public, it’s unclear if more information was given to UCF than was included in the official Nov. 8 complaint, which becomes public record and is given to the accused organization to use in its defense.
Because it’s possible that Stollman could have called UCF and shared more details about the identity of the accuser to convince UCF of its credibility, without risking that discussion becoming a public record in the final report, KnightNews.com asked UCF if it knew the identity of the accuser.
UCF did not directly answer our question about whether it knows the accuser’s identity with a “yes or “no” but did point us to the public records which shield details surrounding the accuser’s identity.
“The person making the allegations chose to do so anonymously,” UCF spokesperson Chad Binette told KnightNews.com.
KnightNews.com also asked UCF if it at least knew whether the accuser was a current or former pledge. Again, UCF did not directly answer that question with a “yes” or “no” but instead again pointed to the public records submitted Nov. 8 — after UCF decided it already had the information it needed to issue the emergency suspension.
“You have the same document that we received, and it doesn’t specify whether or not the person making the allegations is a pledge,” said Binette.
EVIDENCE REVEALS SOME CLUES ABOUT THE ACCUSER
But even though the document doesn’t specify whether the accuser is a current or former ATO pledge, KnightNews.com found clues inside the official Nov. 8 report that suggest the possibility that the accuser is not a pledge.
The email included in the official complaint, which was copied and pasted from the accuser’s email sent to Stollman, lists the accuser as someone who “received information about the actions of ATO,” as if the accuser learned it from another source.
The email from the accuser also uses the third person reference when describing the pledges, saying “they were told to consume together before they were revealed their big brother” rather than saying “we were told to consume together” in the first person.
When describing “different rooms of the house” that “each pledge had to go through” during the alleged hazing ritual, the accuser says “the only room I have gained knowledge of was where the pledge was blind folded…”
Had the accuser been a pledge being victimized during the alleged hazing, it stands to reason that the accuser would have been led into the other rooms with the rest of the pledges, and had knowledge of more than just one room.
ATO has a lot at stake as it fights these charges: a nearly 41 year history at UCF (one of the oldest chapters on campus), its good reputation and its multi-million dollar on campus house. Several of the last fraternities UCF convicted of hazing have seen the university take over their houses, sometimes by force through a lawsuit.
UCF, however, says it’s too early to focus on the future of the house owned by ATO.
“It’s premature at this point to speculate on the future status of the house since the investigation is only in the beginning stages,” said Binette.
THE NEXT STEP FOR ATO
A hearing on Nov. 20 will determine whether the emergency suspension will remain in effect until a formal hearing is conducted, which will determine whether the fraternity is guilty of violating UCF’s hazing rules.
Another UCF Golden Rule gives the university the ability to dismiss a case if it is found to not have sufficient facts or evidence to substantiate the claim of misconduct, or the misconduct is not a violation of the organizational rules of conduct.
However, even though ATO is presumed not in violation until the preponderance of evidence proves otherwise, UCF admits that its standards of handling evidence will not be what students are accustomed to seeing in actual courts of law within the United States.
“At a student conduct organizational hearing, the technical rules of evidence applicable to civil and criminal cases shall not apply. The burden of proof in a student conduct hearing is not on the student organization charged with a violation of the Organizational Rules of Conduct,” according to UCF’s Golden Rule.
We asked UCFPD if they plan on investigating the allegations. UCF spokesperson Chad Binette responded to our email.
“At this time, UCF police have not opened an investigation. There has not been a complaint filed with UCFPD, and based on the information the university has received to date, there is not sufficient information to open a case,” Binette said.
Meanwhile, while preparing to fight for his fraternity’s future, McConachie is searching for another fraternity or sorority to take on ATO’s Rock The Wreath philanthropy, featuring the Ying Yang Twins on Nov. 28.
It’s not clear yet who may step up to put on that event, but during the meeting McConachie also thanked members of the Greek Community for their support, indicating help is possible.
To read more about the fraternity’s suspension and hazing allegations, click here.
