KnightNews.com has just learned exclusive new details about why the anti-hazing speaker who filed hazing charges against Alpha Tau Omega believes the allegations he received are much more credible than some in the Greek community originally believed.
During a phone conversation with anti-hazing speaker David Stollman this morning, he revealed to KnightNews.com that the accuser who emailed him the allegations also spoke with him about the alleged hazing on multiple occasions.
“I spoke with the person and had the opportunity to discuss the content of the allegations with them,” Stollman told KnightNews.com. “It wasn’t just someone who shot me a text or email and things went rolling from there.”
According to Stollman, the accusations carry more weight than a single email sent in by an anonymous person, who Stollman is refusing to identify, citing the accuser’s fear of reprisal.
Stollman admitted that his twenty year experience working with hundreds of schools on issues like hazing led him to believe the basis for the allegations were not motivated by someone who was just making things up to get the chapter in trouble.
“It wasn’t some sort of fraternity espionage where the XYZ chapter was wanting to get the ATO chapter (in trouble) because they don’t like them,” Stollman told KnightNews.com.
Stollman said the details he was told, such as the accuser including specific locations and the timing of new member processes, helped him form his professional assessment that the accusations were true.
“Things going on in the allegations and my follow up conversations,” Stollman said, led him to believe that there’s “no way in my experience I’d believe that was completely made up. … I believed it to be true.”
He also explained the steps he took in reporting the alleged hazing.
In addition to contacting Scott Clark, UCF’s assistant director of the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life, Stollman also contacted UCF’s Office of Student Conduct and ATO’s national office.
UCF has already confirmed Stollman filed an initial complaint on Nov. 5. Then, on the next day, UCF issued the emergency suspension to ATO — without first holding a hearing. It’s a move Stollman defends, considering how he thought someone’s “well being could be in danger.”
“In my perspective, in dealing with lots of universities, if UCF had not immediately taken this complaint seriously then that would have been a serious black mark against UCF’s judicial process,” Stollman said.
Regarding UCF’s judicial process, Stollman explained why he needed his name to be placed on the official report that was filed with UCF.
“Just the way their system is set up, their process can only move forward if there is an official complaint filed,” Stollman said, adding the “only way is through me” and that it “can’t be anonymous.”
“It may seem like I sent an email off and UCF judicial affairs went nuts — that’s not the way it happened,” Stollman said, explaining that “I called UCF and spoke with my contacts there and let them know” about the allegations before filing the official Nov. 8 complaint.
“They weren’t going to move forward on an anonymous complaint,” he said, referring to UCF’s Office of Student Conduct.
“I was a pass through,” Stollman said, referring to how he was able to gather information and communicate with the accuser and then “provide the content to (UCF).”
Stollman explained how the accuser, who told him the information initially, then wrote it up and sent it to him. He then used quotes from the accuser in the complaint he himself filed with UCF.
No matter how the complaint came in, the ATO president is strongly denying the accusations.
“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 Tuesday Greek “all presidents” meeting, the first since the hazing scandal rocked campus.
Nonetheless, Stollman stands by both the university and his own actions, and his decision to keep the accuser’s identity secret.
“Whenever,” Stollman says, “it’s believed at least possible to be true that someone could be hurt, you’ve got to look into it. And that means suspending activities.”
A formal hearing is yet to be announced which will determine if ATO remains on suspension — possibly forever.
A review is scheduled on Nov. 20 to determine whether ATO will have that suspension lifted until the formal hearing.
