On October 6th, five Ole Miss fraternity members were arrested for allegedly beating a member of Sigma Pi to damaging effects.
In a Channel News 11 news report, it was said: "Tucker Cole Steil, James Declan Basile, Christian Guy, Kyle Hughes, and Austin Rice were taken into custody on Friday and smiled as they were being booked into the Lafayette County Jail."
Fox news was another station to break this story, stating, "Accounting major Jeremy Boyle was in the Sigma Pi house October 6 when he heard something outside and went to investigate, Fox13 News reported. He was then reportedly beaten by five members of Pi Kappa fraternity. A university police report shows the beating happened about 4 a.m. at the Sigma Pi house—where Boyle is a member. The fraternity brothers were stealing a donkey statue from the top of the Sigma Pi house, Boyle's family tells the Daily Mississippian. Boyle suffered a concussion, several broken teeth, a ruptured eardrum and a lung contusion as a result of the attack, the newspaper reported. He was treated at an Oxford hospital and later released."
Rumors have been flying heavily as to what actually took place, and why the results and outcomes have lead to this. I spoke with sophomore Kiara Manning this morning who shared her thoughts, as well as what has been rumored on campus this week.
"I feel that the situation was terrible! In my time here at Ole Miss, I am the most disappointed with this incident and that this happened. They beat this guy within an inch of his life and it is not OK! I heard that one of the guys even responded by saying his dad is friends with the judge so it would be easy for him to get off. I think that drastic measures should be taken to deal with this. Also the fact that these guys are smiling in their mugshot shows that they have no remorse for what they did, and that is what bothers me the most."
I attempted to make contact with the president of Pi Kappa Alpha, as well as their faculty staff, however had no success in reaching either.
As I read through all the news stories concerning this incident, the reasoning behind it became even harder to understand. At first it was said that this was a hazing incident, however due to the fact that there are four members of one fraternity accused of assaulting a member of another, it would stand to reason that hazing plays no role here. It was also reported by Channel 9 WAFB news that this had to do with members of Pi Kappa Alpha attempting to steal something from Sigma Pi as a "prank," quoted in their online news release from October 21, 2015. No one at the fraternities would speak on Thursday.
However, a family member of one of the arrested students said this was all a prank gone wrong. According to the family member (who did not want to be identified), the Pi Kappa Alpha members were trying to take a donkey from the other house as a joke when things got out of hand.
Perhaps there is more behind those smiling faces than we yet know. Maybe it is truly as sad and inconceivable as it appears to be; however we do know that in our society as part of a fair legal system, we must refrain from harsh judgment on those involved, and the University itself until there is a valid conclusion offered. That is in no way to diminish the sympathy felt for the victim, who without doubt should not have had endured this.
I have received a call back from Ole Miss faculty who is willing to speak with me about this issue this Saturday, October 24. I will be also try to make contact with Pi Kappa Alpha and Sigma Pi Members as well. I will follow up on this issue in my next article, and perhaps learn more of what really took place on October 6, along with new details on how Ole Miss plans to address this very tragic situation.
Perhaps the most ironic part to this devastating situation is on the side of Pi Kappa Alpha. On their Orgsync webpage, they list clearly what their fraternity stands for:
"Pi Kappa Alpha is dedicated to developing men of integrity, intellect, and high moral character and to fostering a truly lifelong fraternal experience.
The Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity will set the standard of integrity, intellect, and achievement for our members, host institutions, and the communities in which we live."
