Probe continues at UA after teen hospitalized

University of Arkansas police will continue an investigation to determine if an alcohol-related event on Saturday amounts to hazing.

“It started yesterday, and it will be going on until we turn the information over to the prosecutor,” Lt. Gary Crain, a spokesman for the University of Arkansas Police Department, said Tuesday.

On Saturday, a 19-yearold male student was admitted to Washington Regional Medical Center in Fayetteville with possible alcohol poisoning. He had received a bid that morning to become a pledge at Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity. Crain said a member of the fraternity drove the student to the hospital. Hospital personnel called UA police about 3:30 p.m. Saturday to tell them of the situation.

Crain said police on Tuesday interviewed the student who had been admitted to the hospital. His name hasn’t been released to the public. Crain said he didn’t know if any alcohol was consumed at the fraternity house at 360 Arkansas Ave.

Hazing falls under Arkansas Code Annotated 6-5-201 through 6-5-203. It is a Class B misdemeanor under Arkansas law and would be referredto Fayetteville Prosecutor Clinton (Casey) Jones. On Tuesday, Jones said he hadn’t heard from UA police regarding the case, but he had read an article about it in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

Any student convicted of hazing also will be expelled from the college, according to Arkansas Code Annotated 6-5-203(b).

Scott Flanagin, a spokesman for the university’s Division of Student Affairs, said about 180 pledges received bids Saturday morning from UA fraternities after a formal recruitment period.

Students can become fraternity members after a semester or so as a pledge, depending on the situation.

Under Arkansas Code Annotated 3-3-202, it’s against the law to furnish any kind of alcoholic beverage to a person under age 21. Doing so would be a misdemeanor for a first conviction and a felony for a second offense within three years.

Brian C. Warren Jr., national executive director of Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity, said the chapter has “suspended all operations” pending the outcome of the investigation.

“Our thoughts and prayers go out to the member, his family and his friends through his recovery,” Warren said in a prepared release.

Northwest Arkansas, Pages 12 on 02/27/2013

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