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East Carolina University’s chancellor said the university is taking allegations of drink tampering and sexual assault at a fraternity house seriously but would not elaborate during an interview at a Board of Trustees meeting.
Philip Rogers referred to the timely notice distributed by ECU on Tuesday that said university police received two allegations of drink tampering, one which led to a sexual assault, at the Theta Chi Fraternity house on Aug. 20. Rogers spoke to The Daily Reflector in between committee meetings of ECU’s Board of Trustees on Thursday.
“We take these types of allegations very seriously,” he said. “We always put the safety of our students as our top priority and we are following all of ECU’s policies and procedures to ensure we navigate this situation as efficiently and effectively as we possibly can.”
This is the second allegation of drink tampering leading to sexual assault at Theta Chi in less than a year. The university in November issued a timely warning after Greenville police received a report that a sexual assault had occurred on Oct. 29. Rogers on Nov. 23 issued a cease and desist order to suspend the fraternity’s activities for a minimum of 30 days while and administrative review was conducted.
The directive was suspended in February but the fraternity was found responsible for alcohol violations and endangerment, leading to it being placed on probation until February 2023. Rogers did not say if that meant the new allegations are enough at this time to enact discipline.
“We are continuing to follow our process as we’ve already outlined,” Rogers said.
The fraternity was only mentioned again in passing at a noon meeting of the board’s new Committee on Strategy and Innovation, which aims to tackle long term planning for the university. In a presentation on civil discourse at the university Virginia Hardy, vice chancellor of Student Affairs, alluded to Tuesday night protests at the Theta Chi house on Fifth Street.
Hardy said ECU police intervened at the house during the protests and informed students that they were in violation of Greenville’s city ordinances. She said that police escorted students back to campus where Dr. Erik Kneubuehl, associate vice chancellor of student involvement and leadership, explained their right to free expression. She said there were no arrests or incidents of violence during the demonstration.
In discussing civil discourse, Hardy said that ECU is ranked “green” by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), which she said aims to protect students freedom of expression. A green rating is the highest attainable.
Robin Coger, ECU provost, said at the committee meeting that it is important students engage in civil discourse across the political spectrum. She said that the university values safety and free expression as two of its tenets when promoting such discourse, but campus groups and external parties must follow established criteria to speak or demonstrate on campus.
Rogers added that universities should be a “hotbed” of such conversation. Scott Shook, chairman of the board, asked if such conversations are happening in an echo chamber or if students are actually engaging in conversations with people who differ politically.
“I think it is both,” Coger said. “I think that you’re encountering situations where people are coming at you from a lot of different backgrounds. In any given case you may have something that comes up very rudely or it’s just simply (people) just there to learn.”
The board at its full meeting today is scheduled to consider leasing housing space for 32 to 36 beds in Manteo for 2023. The space is used for programs like the university’s Semester at the Coast. The Budget, Finance and Infrastructure Committee voted in favor of the lease on Thursday.
The housing would come to $143,769 for 16 double occupancy rooms and one efficiency apartment. Cleaning fees would amount to $7,560 annually and rent totals at $151,329 from Jan. 1-Dec. 31, 2023.
At a meeting of the University Affairs Committee, ECU Student Body President Ryan Bonnett asked if there have been steps to address mold concerns at Legacy Residence Hall on College Hill. Peter Groenendyk, associate vice chancellor for campus living, told him and the rest of the board that those concerns are largely exacerbated by social media.
“We have far more complaints about mold and mildew than we have actual issues that come up,” Groenendyk said. “People post these on social media and we get an explosion of work requests.
“Within the past week we had work requests from parents online, we put them online, who have not talked to their students about it and their students don’t know they’ve requested the work.”
Groenendyk said humidity does lead to mold and mildew on occasion, but a number of the complaints are a result of window units building up dust on their carbon filter which students perceive as mold.
“Every time we get a work request we will send someone up to that room,” Groenendyk assured the board. “We’re happy to change the filter.”
The full board will meet at 9 a.m. today at the Main Campus Student Center to receive reports from ECU’s student body, faculty, staff, Board of Visitors and the board’s committees.
Contact Pat Gruner at pgruner@reflector.com and 252-329-9566.
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