One fraternity member was sent to the hospital after a fight on Greek Row Jan. 30, prompting a Judicial Affairs investigation into the incident.
According to Public Safety, Sigma Nu member Jonathan Russel Harper, 19, was found bleeding from a cut above the eye and was taken to the emergency room.
Brandon Bouchillon, 18, a Sigma Chi member, was also included in the police report as a victim of simple assault.
Bouchillon said that the trouble started that night after an unidentified member of Sigma Chi entered the backyard of the Beta Theta Pi house on Greek Row.
"One of my brothers was in their backyard, and he was taunting them," Bouchillon said.
Beta Theta Pi President Dan Smelcer was a witness to the events leading up to the assault.
"I believe he was drunk, and we asked him to leave," Smelcer said. "They were not willing to leave. Eventually it erupted into some yelling, and we finally got them outside the gate."
Bouchillon said that Harper was helping the Sigma Chi brothers return to their house when the fight broke out.
"Jonathan was there as an innocent bystander," Bouchillon said. "He got hit by a Beta as he was helping to escort one of my brothers back to my house and make peace. The only ones throwing fists were the Betas."
However, Smelcer said his fraternity was not responsible for Harper's injuries.
"None of us were actually involved in the fight," he said. "I didn't see who punched the guy. But the witnesses I talked to said it was a non-Beta."
"Harper was just in the wrong place and the wrong time," Bouchillon said. "He was trying to make peace, and he got hit by one of them. They won't admit to it."
Spencer Rudolph, Sigma Chi president, said he went to Harper's aid after the fight broke out.
"The other guy [Harper] was being helped down the road to his house," Rudolph said. "I went to get a wet rag to wipe up some of the blood."
Public Safety arrived on the scene at 1:56 a.m., and an ambulance was called for Harper.
"He had to get stitches for the cut above his eye," Bouchillon said. "He spent the night in the hospital."
Harper declined to speak to Sidelines about the incident. The president of Sigma Nu, Clay Kennedy, said that he just wanted the whole incident to be forgotten.
"It's embarrassing to the entire Greek community," Kennedy said.
Clint Hall, interim assistant dean of Judicial Affairs, said he is currently investigating the fight on Greek Row to determine responsibility.
"We're still in the gathering facts stage of the investigation," Hall said. "Once I've gathered all the facts, I'll be able to see if there is a way to determine responsibility, and if so, then appropriate sanctions on those who are responsible."
Bouchillon said he and Harper received letters from Judicial Affairs charging them with disturbing the peace and alcohol charges.
"I went in and told [Hall] the story, and he took it for what it was," Bouchillon said. "He saw that we were making peace, and he took all the charges off."
The police report indicated both Harper and Bouchillon were intoxicated, but Bouchillon denied those claims.
"They had no proof of that because we weren't drunk at all," Bouchillon said.
Lt. Darrell Collins, investigations coordinator, said Public Safety is also conducting an investigation into the fight as well as recent acts of vandalism on Greek Row.
"It's not necessarily vandalism, but just boys kicking up their heels," Collins said.
He said the investigation is going slowly because the fraternity members are unwilling to talk about their brothers.
In the past three months, several incidents of vandalism were reported on Greek Row.
According to the police media log, on Dec. 15, 2003, someone tore off part of a sign in the Beta Theta Pi house. On Dec. 21, vandalism more than $500 occurred at the Sigma Alpha Epsilon house. The Pi Kappa Alpha house reported that an individual tried to knock down their fence and then ran toward the Sigma Nu house on Jan. 9.
"There's a lot of younger guys that just got initiated in December or November," Smelcer said. "It could have been them, but considering that there was at least five or six houses vandalized in one night, I would hope it wouldn't be anybody that lived on Greek Row."
"It's usually the young guys that cause 90 percent of the problems between the fraternities," Smelcer said.
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