116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
University of Iowa fraternities investigated for rowdy tailgate
Chapters spent $30K on Melrose Court tailgate properties
Dec. 21, 2021 12:34 pm, Updated: Dec. 22, 2021 10:31 am
IOWA CITY — A trio of University of Iowa fraternities — including one the campus suspended last summer — are in trouble again, first for continuing to host impermissible and illegal football tailgates on a pair of Melrose Court properties they spent $30,000 to lease, and then for misleading and evading UI investigators.
“None of the individuals were able to identify who would have information and were providing inconsistent facts,” according to a Nov. 17 investigative report the UI provided The Gazette in response to a records request. “Ultimately, the information we received was inconsistent from person to person.”
UI investigators this fall spent weeks interviewing five UI students who were members of either Pi Kappa Alpha or Sigma Chi or former members of Phi Delta Theta, which was deregistered from campus last summer but is accused of continuing to operate without the UI or headquarters oversight.
Those interviews proved mostly fruitless, according to the UI investigative report.
“Considering all factors in our credibility analysis, we find the testimony provided by the five men holds minimal weight,” according to the report. “Accordingly, we have substantially relied on the evidence provided by (Iowa City police) rather than individual statements.”
Findings
Iowa City police evidence led the UI Office of Student Accountability to find the following:
- Pi Kappa Alpha and Sigma Chi — both with long histories of violations, investigations and suspensions — on Sept. 18 hosted a registered tailgate at 228 and 300 Melrose Court, a pair of adjacent properties down Melrose Avenue from Kinnick Stadium.
- That tailgate had been erroneously approved due to confusion about a new social events policy.
- A fraternity and sorority programs coordinator Sept. 23 told the fraternities and their leaders, however, that further football tailgates were barred and could lead to reprimand.
- But Iowa City police on Oct. 9 — the day of the Penn State game — received a call from neighbors reporting a “large tailgate” at the Melrose Court properties.
- When officers arrived, they spoke with two men who had been affiliated with Phi Delta Theta before it was removed from campus in June 2020. One said he wasn’t in charge but “was the closest person to being in charge because others went to the football game,” and he gave police contact information for a Sigma Chi associate whose name he said was on the property lease. A second Phi Delta Theta affiliate approached officers to say the party was hosted by “PIKE and Sig Chi,” and said the city and UI had approved the event.
- At the tailgate — which investigators determined was co-hosted by Pike Kappa Alpha, Sigma Chi and the unaffiliated Phi Delta Theta — people freely came and went and were not required to present identification to get into the event, where “alcohol was widely available.”
- Investigators determined the hosts hadn’t contracted with an outside vendor to facilitate alcohol distribution — as UI policy requires — and they’d hired a DJ, who was playing loud music and disturbing the neighborhood.
‘Massive financial loss’
Despite giving UI authorities the runaround regarding evidence, documents and responsible parties, the fraternities did share with investigators that Sigma Chi and Pi Kappa Alpha fronted a $30,000 down payment with Big Ten Rentals to sign the two properties before the fall 2021 semester began.
Tailgates, like those the fraternities hosted, have been prohibited for years at the UI after a Sigma Chi freshman in 2017 died from alcohol poisoning during an out-of-town event April 2017.
But after spending the money on the rental this fall, one Sigma Chi representative told UI investigators “the prohibition of tailgates was a massive financial loss.”
In passing the buck on who could have hosted the October tailgate, fraternity representatives said it could have been anyone.
“Because Sigma Chi took social dues and tailgate fees before the season started, all people who paid for access would have believed they still had access to 228/300 Melrose Court,” the UI investigation found.
Pike Kappa Alpha this fall already was on disciplinary and social probation for hazing, alcohol and other violations in the spring. Sigma Chi had only wrapped its disciplinary probation in May after the university sanctioned it for violations in June 2020. And Phi Delta Theta was suspended from campus that same month.
‘Implausible’
When UI investigators interviewed the Phi Delta Theta affiliate who was seen on bodycam footage approaching officers at the tailgate and proactively offering them ID — asserting “we” have approval to host the tailgate — he said he “did not know what they were talking about” as his parents were in town that weekend.
He later admitted to stopping by the tailgate for 10 minutes because his dad “felt younger again” when they saw it. Although he confirmed seeing alcohol at the tailgate, the student said it was on the other side of the yard, “down a slope” and he “didn’t go anywhere near it.”
The student described alcohol as “scary” and said he doesn’t consume alcohol regularly.
“He stated that the tailgate on October 9 was the first one he attended,” and he was nervous someone would bump into his dad — who had just undergone knee surgery three days prior.
Although the Phi Delta affiliate told UI investigators his dad took pictures of the tailgate and would provide them, he later said he couldn’t get in touch with his dad until he returned from “Cabo.”
Investigators found that student’s testimony “inherently implausible” because — per the police video — he had a beer, approached police and took ownership of the event. They also found it implausible his dad would be able to walk along Melrose Court and stand at a tailgate three days after knee surgery.
“The testimony he provided to us was vastly different from what we saw when he spoke to the police and was not consistent over time,” according to the UI report.
History of violations
The university this month found Sigma Chi and Pi Kappa Alpha responsible for a range of tailgating-related violations, putting Sigma Chi on disciplinary probation through the end of next year. Pi Kappa Alpha discipline remains to be determined, as investigators recently received another complaint the fraternity hosted an impermissible event with alcohol at the house — extending the investigation.
In total, six UI fraternities have been investigated for violations this fall — with two already sanctioned, three on interim suspension, and one found not responsible.
Pi Kappa Alpha and Sigma Chi have been in trouble every year since at least 2017 for non-compliance with alcohol and arrest policies.
Although Pi Kappa Alpha and Sigma Chi have been found responsible for the impermissible tailgates, Phi Delta Theta can’t be held responsible because it’s not a registered student organization, according to the investigative report.
UI officials said a fraternity in good standing — like other registered student organizations — has access to resources and privileges. When one is suspended, it loses access to those rights.
“While fraternities may lose rights associated with their University of Iowa-registered student organization status during a suspension, that suspension does not necessarily impact the chapter’s status with their national organization,” according to UI spokeswoman Anne Bassett. “Additionally, chapter houses are privately owned and managed, and therefore may continue to operate even if a chapter loses its University of Iowa registered student organization status.”
In response to questions about whether its UI chapter is continuing to operate in an unaffiliated manner, Todd Simmons — with the Phi Delta Theta headquarters — told The Gazette the UI chapter is inactive, stripping its right to use its name or symbols.
"This suspension also restricted any continued operation, or any resemblance to operations by groups or individual members,“ Simmons said. ”Any information alleging anything other than this would result in communication to individuals associated with the former Iowa Beta chapter in an effort to prevent any further misconception regarding chapter operation moving forward.“
He did not immediately answer questions of whether headquarters has reached out to former UI chapter members. But Simmons said, “Any individuals found to have violated this expectation would face potential loss of membership and legal action for trademark infringement.”
Comments: (319) 339-3158; vanessa.miller@thegazette.com
University of Iowa investigators this fall spent weeks interviewing five UI students who were members of either Pi Kappa Alpha, Sigma Chi or former members of Phi Delta Theta — shown above — which was deregistered from campus last summer but is accused of continuing to operate without the UI or headquarters oversight. Tailgates, like those the fraternities hosted on Melrose Court, have been prohibited for years at the UI after a Sigma Chi freshman in 2017 died from alcohol poisoning during an out-of-town event April 2017. (Gazette photo)
In fall 2018, Iowa City police investigated massive fraternity tailgate parties on Melrose Court, including this one captured on police body camera video, where they found widespread violations of a Greek-system ban on events with alcohol. (Iowa City Police Department)
Daily Newsletters