Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 6, 1994 TAG: 9403060022
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: D-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: KATHY LOAN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RADFORD LENGTH: Long
The fraternity brothers went to a house and an apartment in Radford and burst through the doors looking for the man - a member of another fraternity - who had assaulted their friend.
Police say the men - members of the outlawed Radford chapter of Sigma Phi Epsilon - trashed the Tau Kappa Epsilon house and destroyed fraternity pictures, frames and trophies.
This sort of "revenge" has created what police and citizens say is an atmosphere of intimidation around the East Radford house where members of the rogue fraternity congregate.
"They really do have a gang mentality. They think Radford's their turf, and they wanna own it," said one female student, who asked not to be identified.
"I'm kind of offended by that," said Travis Ward, the Sig Ep president. He's at Radford to get an education, he said, not to terrorize the neighborhood.
Ward, a senior biology major from Hampton, acknowledges problems, but says the threatening and violent behavior of a few members wasn't sanctioned by the fraternity.
"They're labeling probably 45 to 50 of us" for the actions of a half-dozen or so, Ward said.
Six fraternity members face felony charges of breaking and entering with intent to commit assault and destroy property for the January incident - just one in a string of problems the community, police and university have had with what remains of the Radford chapter of Sigma Phi Epsilon.
The fraternity lost its national charter in 1991 after Radford withdrew recognition because of repeated individual incidents that the university believed were fraternity related. Those incidents included destruction of university property, hazing, disruptive behavior on campus and fighting.
"To be honest, we're not the nicest guys on campus. But we're not the bad guys we've been made out to be," Ward said last week.
The recent arrests have created a state of fear on campus, with police and students wondering where fraternity high jinks end and ganglike violence and intimidation begin.
Because the alleged crimes occurred off campus, university officials are waiting for police to act first. Campus officials have refused to comment on specific cases, citing confidentiality laws.
The power of university judicial systems is limited; generally, the worst punishment is expulsion. When the campus Judicial Board does sit - usually after the case has been prosecuted in court - a panel of faculty, staff and students decides the fate of the accused. But college officials already have questioned some of the young men charged in the January incident, said Jimmy Turk, the men's lawyer.
Turk says the university and the city have helped create the problem by refusing to recognize the banned fraternity as an organized group of any kind.
Police say the actions the Sig Eps are accused of go beyond fraternity pranks or immature college-student behavior and that the Sig Eps have not earned recognition.
"I don't think these young people understand . . . it's no longer fun and games when you are assaulting people, when you are breaking into people's homes," said Jonny Butler, deputy chief of the Radford Police Department.
"Those things are associated with gang activities," not fraternity rites, Butler said.
Butler said the Sigma Phi Epsilon house at 1117 Fairfax St. has become a place where a large number of young men consume alcohol, yell at people, create a general nuisance and disturb the neighborhood.
"I've lived here too long to have a neighborhood living in terror because of the actions of a few irresponsible young men," Butler said. "And if those young men have to go to jail to learn how to peacefully co-exist with others, that suits me."
Commonwealth's Attorney Randal Duncan said he is aware of the problems created by the banned fraternity.
"They've been bad news for several years," he said.
Longtime Radford residents and many students share the concern of police and the prosecutor, but say they are afraid to go public with their concerns.
What may look like an intimidating house from the outside on a weekend night - when a party is pulsating behind a heavy, black door and stained-glass windows - looks like just another run-down fraternity house in daylight. The main living areas are sparsely furnished, and most of the tenants live upstairs in individual rooms that are padlocked for privacy.
Only five or six people rent rooms in the house, and just one of them faces charges in the January incident.
The house is a few blocks from the university in a neighborhood where student housing is commingled with the homes of a few year-round residents who have outlasted the campus sprawl that came in Radford's growth spurt of the 1980s.
Landlord Robert Rankin was a boarder at the house then. He later bought the house, seeing it as an investment toward retirement.
Rankin says there's little he can do until the tenants violate their lease or are convicted of illegal acts.
"It stays full. They pay the damage deposit. They pay the rent," Rankin said.
A resident who lives near the Sig Ep house worries about "seemingly random attacks of violence" and says complaints to the City/University Joint Commission on Public Affairs - a town-gown group of Radford and city officials as well as students and residents - have brought no results.
Last fall, the resident told the commission about apparent initiation rituals and large, boisterous gatherings at the Sig Ep house and another nearby fraternity house.
She reported seeing several young men, arms behind their backs and wearing blindfolds, being escorted by others wearing Sigma Phi Epsilon sweat shirts.
The resident said Sig Eps have interfered with pedestrians, harassing them or blocking their way. Members also have been "loud and frightening" at other times, she said.
"They just don't care. They like to intimidate anyone. They get off on making people afraid," a student said.
Travis Ward doesn't look intimidating. He hasn't gotten into legal trouble as a Sig Ep, and is regarded by the landlord and the tenants as the rules enforcer.
He goes to basketball games, studies at the school library and makes it to 8 a.m. classes.
He says much of the fraternity's bad-boy image comes from younger members.
"We give them letters, they think they're untouchable," and they're not afraid to "run around and mouth off."
Turk, the Radford lawyer representing the Sig Eps, said police and the community are "not as tolerant of the student community as they should be."
By refusing to recognize the banned fraternity as an organized group, Radford has exacerbated the problem, Turk said.
"Right now, you just have a group of people who obviously are a unit [but are receiving] nothing but rejection and hostility. And rejection and hostility is probably going to breed the same thing," Turk said.
Turk believes there are problems with at least three of the Sig Ep arrests, and he will be seeking to have the cases dismissed.
Generally, college students facing misdemeanors such as having fake identifications, possessing alcohol under-age and simple assault are allowed to keep their record clean by performing community service work.
But felony charges such as the ones the Sig Eps and a member of the Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity face are different, Commonwealth's Attorney Duncan said. He said he wants to see the charges go to a grand jury for indictment, landing the case - like other felonies - in Circuit Court.
University officials say they must proceed carefully. Their authority generally ends at the campus line, but if a student threatens on-campus students, the university has a responsibility to take action.
Bonnie Hurlburt, dean of students, said, "The most serious penalty is, `You cannot attend this university.' "
Staff writers Allison Blake, Ken Davis and Rick Lindquist contributed to this story.
by CNB