The three recent on-campus stabbings outside the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity house have left Greek life officials weighing future security problems.

‘That night it happened we were scared, we were nervous,’ said Danny Brecher, Sigma Alpha Epsilon president.

‘I know after talking to a lot of people it was like, ‘That could have been us. What else could we do to prevent something like this from happening to us?’ Maybe take a step back and really think about what goes on at this campus,’ Brecher said.

The stabbings fall in the midst of several other smaller security incidents this semester at fraternity houses.

Over the past two weekends, the Syracuse University Interfraternity Council presidents said they have taken some increased measures for security. ATO hired six security guards for a pig roast on Sept. 26, said Ben Golin, president. Brecher said he has tried to keep brothers inside during parties and maintain a low profile.

Going forward, IFC has pledged a review and possible revisions to its existing security policies. No timeline has been set for the review’s completion, and discussion of the revisions has been delayed to prepare for the fall rush period, IFC presidents said.

The current security policies are governed by the social policy of IFC’s constitution.

As part of the review, IFC will discuss the possibility of increasing paid security guards at parties. Guards can be useful, IFC presidents said, but they will have to weigh the additional costs. IFC may also review the practicality of open parties, said Dave Magagna, Delta Kappa Epsilon president.

Fraternity presidents said they will look independently into possibly having more brothers act as bouncers.

What has occurred

On Sept. 20, a Syracuse man stabbed three ATO brothers at about 1 a.m. on the porch of their fraternity house, said Sgt. Tom Connellan of the Syracuse Police Department.

The stabbing suspect, Rashaun Cameron, 20, has been charged with two counts of second-degree assault and two counts of fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon, and is held in the Onondaga County Justice Center on $20,000 bail, according to Justice Center records.

ATO was not disciplined after the stabbings because they followed IFC policy correctly and did not let the men in the house, said Eddie Banks-Crosson, director of fraternity and sorority affairs.

In addition to the stabbings, other fraternities reported other smaller incidents at their houses this semester.

A couple weeks after school started, a man walked up to the SAE house and pulled a knife, threatening two brothers on the porch, said Brecher, SAE president. One of the brothers scared the man away and chased after him briefly.

No one was hurt in the incident, and SAE did not report it because nothing happened to any of the brothers, he said.

About two weeks before the ATO stabbings, Phi Gamma Delta brothers saw about six or eight men loitering in their backyard on a Friday night, said Kyle Dean, Fiji president.

Each of the men wore a black hooded sweatshirt and a blue-and-white New York Yankees baseball hat. As people approached the men, they would take off their hats and withdraw a small bag. Dean said he assumes the men were passing out drugs in the bags but could not be sure.

The men eventually left when the brothers told them they were planning to call SU’s Department of Public Safety, Dean said.

The policy as it stands

Fraternity social chairs must now register a party 72 hours in advance after Friday’s IFC meeting, said Magagna, DKE president. In the past, fraternities needed to register the event 24 hours in advance, he said.

Fraternities do not face any limits on how many events they can hold, Banks-Crosson said. They also don’t have set limits on the number of people they can invite, but the events must follow building and fire codes, said DPS Chief Tony Callisto.

Social chairs must register each event and submit a guest list with SU’s Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs, Banks-Crosson said.

‘We make recommendations on improving the event or we approve it for it to happen,’ Banks-Crosson said, ‘and then we notify our security.’

IFC employs Chestnut Street Security, a Syracuse-based private-security company, to go to each registered event and make sure the fraternity is following the rules set in the social policy:

* No hard liquor or shot glasses are allowed.

* Taxi cab phone numbers and names of the sober brothers must be posted.

* Brothers or security guards must check SUIDs against the guest list. Those not on the list should not be allowed entrance.

* Food and water must be present at each station distributing alcohol.

* The party can not exceed the number of guests on the list nor exceed fire codes.

Banks-Crosson declined to provide how much IFC pays Chestnut Security. Ron Falise, the owner of Chestnut Security, also declined to comment.

Chestnut Security checks in at every event regardless of its size, Banks-Crosson said.

Fraternities must hire unarmed security guards if the guest list is more than 150 people, according to the social policy. If the fraternity does not register the correct number of guests, the party is likely to be shut down, Banks-Crosson said. IFC presidents said that DPS has shut them down on several occasions.

Most fraternities employ two security guards and post them at the main entrance of the party, IFC presidents said. But the security guards have no law enforcement authority over students, said Callisto, DPS chief.

The review process

IFC will investigate if fraternities should add security guards to their events and if they should station guards at other entrances, Callisto said. No official decision has been reached yet, he said.

Adding security guards is an option but the cost poses a problem, IFC presidents said. Fraternities pay from $175 to $200 per event for two security guards. Adding more may not be possible, said James Simmons, Alpha Epsilon Pi president.

‘I mean it would be great if we could afford that,’ Simmons said. ‘Most of the frats on campus don’t bring in that much money and most are pretty poor in that respect.’

SU should help to pay for the guards if it forces fraternities to increase the number, said Magagna.

‘It’s not cheap, it’s expensive. That’s why the university should possibly look into subsidizing it, at least in part, if they want to protect the students,’ he said.

Some fraternities don’t frequently use security guards because they host small parties. Most fraternities post brothers at the main entrance, and some fraternity presidents said they prefer having brothers act as bouncers rather than employing security guards.

‘Why would I hire a security guard when I would trust a kid in my own house to do the same job just as well?’ said Brecher.

‘I wouldn’t mind having a security guard at every party. But I don’t think it’s necessary a lot of the times. The only thing he really does is, you give him a list, tell him, ‘If the people are on the list, then let them in,” Brecher said.

IFC may look to tighten the restrictions on open parties, perhaps even shut them down completely, Magagna said.

An open party attracts the largest crowd, and it can be hard to control. ATO was hosting an open party when the stabbings occurred, said Ben Golin, ATO president. Some fraternities opt to only hold a few each semester.

‘I mean, they could say no open parties at all, but I doubt that quite yet. I think it will just be tighter than it already is,’ Magagna said. ‘Probably more security, but what else can they really do besides get rid of them all together?’

adbrow03@syr.edu

Published on October 6, 2009 at 12:00 pm