by Jeremy Hunt
Daily Lobo
Peter Krumland, a blind UNM student, said he was verbally abused in a hazing incident on Aug. 11 by members of the fraternity to which he pledged, Phi Delta Theta.
Krumland filed a report with the Dean of Students Office on Aug. 18, said Randy Boeglin, dean of students. A code of conduct charge letter was then issued to the fraternity, Boeglin said.
The fraternity was charged with a violation of its own code of conduct regarding hazing,
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he said.
The fraternity is suspended until the spring semester, he said.
John Binnert, president of the University's chapter of Phi Delta Theta, said he was not present at the time of the incident but arrived shortly after and was told what happened.
He reported the incident to the fraternity's regional director the next day, he said.
Phi Delta Theta's national headquarters did not return calls Wednesday.
Krumland said fraternity members singled him out for being blind during the incident.
They called him names and told him he didn't deserve to be there, he said.
He was told to give a signal during the incident if he was uncomfortable, but he was intimidated and thought giving a signal would make the situation worse, he said.
He ran out of the room crying and was not able to sleep that night because of what happened, he said.
Krumland said he is not bitter about the incident.
"I don't have any hard feelings," he said. "All I want to do is go to school, get an education and make some friends. Those are my goals that I wanted and still want at UNM."
Binnert said he set up a standards board to review the incident.
The standards board is the fraternity's way of disciplining itself according to its code of conduct, he said.
The board was made up of members who had no knowledge of the incident, he said.
The board made recommendations that the fraternity accepted, including a hazing workshop,
he said.
The fraternity adopted the University's definition of hazing into its bylaws and put in more severe consequences for members who do not follow its anti-hazing policy, Binnert said.
He said the fraternity will not have another incident like
this one.
"We had a night of idiocy," he said. "We're taking steps to ensure it doesn't happen again."
The Dean of Students Office held a hearing Sept. 1 and determined the fraternity was responsible for the incident and had violated the UNM code of conduct, Boeglin said.
The fraternity was forthcoming about the incident and members involved with it admitted fault, Boeglin said.
He said the office charged two members with other conduct violations. He declined to give any further details.
Under the suspension, Phi Delta Theta cannot have any social functions or meetings but may continue to function as student housing, Boeglin said.
There are stipulations for the fraternity's return as a chartered student organization, Boeglin said.
The University will require all members of the chapter to attend sensitivity training, he said.
The fraternity is required to get approval from the Greek Life Office for all pre-initiation activities, Boeglin said.
"All initiation activities will actually take place in a building such as the Student Union Building, not in the chapter house," he said. "That is for the foreseeable future."
Boeglin said punishment for code of conduct violations is determined by the severity of the offense, the organization's history and status, as violations committed while on probation will warrant a more severe punishment. Each incident is judged on a case-by-case basis, he said.
"They will remain on a very restricted social probation,"
he said.
-Caleb Fort contributed to this report
