The Theta Chi men’s Fraternity was found not in violation of alcohol related misconduct due to a lack of evidence at a Student Conduct Board panel hearing held at UCF’s Office of Student Conduct on September 10, according to the panel’s statement of determination.
Knight News broke the story that Theta Chi was on an emergency suspension for alcohol related misconduct after UCF confirmed so on August 20. The interim suspension was lifted four days later on August 24 after Theta Chi had an interim suspension meeting with the Office of Student Conduct. Although the suspension was lifted, the case would still move forward to a conduct hearing.
During the hearing, a Theta Chi representative explained that the “Loggers and Joggers” party was held by a former fraternity member who was suspended in 2012 for his birthday and that the Theta Chi affiliation was a “misunderstanding.” The representative became aware that there were three active undergraduate members present at the party but that they were all of the legal drinking age and provided their own alcohol for themselves, according to UCF documents.
The home was occupied by three alumni members of Theta Chi and a suspended member, all of who had graduated from UCF at the time of the party. The representative said he was aware that there was significant Theta Chi memorabilia around the house that probably led to the assumption that the party was Theta Chi affiliated.
Multiple witnesses testified in the hearing on September 10. Two witnesses included Emily Santos, an RA in Nike, and Anne Fetzner, an RA in Neptune. Fetzner had received a call about an overly intoxicated student who had been at fraternity party that night, but did not specify which fraternity. Later that night, Anne had encountered another group of students who were dressed similarly who indicated they had been at a Theta Chi party earlier that night. She made the connection that the overly intoxicated student was most likely was at the same party earlier that night as well, according to the panel’s statement of determination.
Fetzner was asked by the GRC to include the information about the fraternity being Theta Chi although the first witness had not identified Theta Chi being the fraternity party in question.
A third witness, Rosie Timothy provided a social media picture from Twitter showing party attendees referencing “Joggers and Loggers” and Theta Chi. It could not be confirmed this was the same party due to the absence of Theta Chi memorabilia in the picture and the representative stating that the people in the picture were not members of Theta Chi, according to UCF documents.
The panel members made the perception that this was the same party but due to the lack of information they could not state whether or not the party was hosted by undergraduate members of Theta Chi where underage drinking occurred.
Spencer Card testified via telephone during the hearing. Card lived at the property where the party was held and stated that the party was for himself and was in no way Theta Chi affiliated. He stated that there were anywhere from 150-200 people at the party and he knew around 15. Card admitted that the party “got out of control.” He also stated that there were multiple Theta Chi banners held around the house that could have given the assumption the party was affiliated with the fraternity, according to UCF documents.
Card denied seeing any alcohol being served, claimed there was no bar where alcohol was being served that witnesses had indicated in their reports, and did not see anyone who was “dangerously drunk” in which fraternity members assisted, according to the panel’s statement of determination.
Based on the information in the hearing, the panel could not find the fraternity in violation of alcohol related misconduct. The panel could not identify any members as undergraduate members in the fraternity and whether or not any fraternity members purchased or served alcohol to anyone under the legal drinking age. Due to the fact that the tenants were alumni of the organization it was reasonable to have memorabilia at the property. However that does not connect the house or party to the undergraduate members of the fraternity, according to the panel’s statement of determination.
In the past, UCF has been more strict on punishing greek organizations with questionable evidence. For instance, when Alpha Tau Omega was suspended years ago, the student conduct board had a police officer testify over the phone during a secret hearing and when the officer testified, the board completely misstated his testimony in their report and went against what the police officer said.
“I was curious if there was a structured attire for the females as you have described for the males,” panel member Joe Schofield asked a UCF police officer during the hearing.
“It didn’t appear so,” UCFPD Officer Tirado said.
However, in the panel’s final report where they explained why ATO was deserving of a one-year suspension they said, “…UCFPD Officer Tirado stated that most people at the party were dressed formally to fit the theme. Based on this information, the panel feels that this was a structured event that should have been registered with the university.”
Not once in that final report did it mention that officer Tirado stated that it didn’t appear that there was a structured attire. On top of that, the star witness that testified in the hearing is also not the most credible source of information.
Since Knight News has exposed members of the conduct board during these secret hearings on video,the conduct board has rejected UCF’s allegation of misconduct in Theta Chi’s and Sigma Nu’s hearings, when it felt the evidence was not present to support an in violation finding.
One of the panel members in the Theta Chi hearing, Joe Schofield, was one of the same panel members in the ATO hearing.
Danielle Frazier’s name was also released as a panel member in the report. The other two Student Conduct Board panel members names were censored from the report by UCF. UCF believes that it can keep the names of student panel members secret as FERPA education records, which is the law protecting private things like a student’s SAT scores.
