The Delta Delta Delta sorority did not contribute any funds for the Oct. 25 unregistered semiformal at the Beta Theta Pi fraternity house, where two 18-year-old freshman sorority pledges claimed they were drugged and sexually assaulted, Panhellenic Association President Stephanie Deal said.
According to the sorority”s national organization policies, chapter funds cannot be given “for any reason, to any organization co-sponsoring a social event where alcohol will be present.”
The policies also state that chapters are only allowed to co-sponsor an event at a fraternity house if the function is alcohol-free.
A majority of the sorority”s pledges and a few of its other members attended the party, a Delta Delta Delta freshman pledge told The Michigan Daily on Sunday. Most of the women at the party are affiliated with the sorority, she added.
Delta Delta Delta President Martha Rothbaum told the Daily last week that she did not know the party was unregistered.
The sorority has decided to put itself on voluntary probation. That decision is in line with Beta Theta Pi, which also went on probation voluntarily and will not hold any events until investigations by police and the Interfraternity Council are complete.
Whether Delta Delta Delta will face further penalties for attending the event will be determined by the Office of Greek Life”s Social Responsibility Committee, which monitors adherence to the Greek Life alcohol policies.
“Like the IFC, we”re waiting until the criminal investigation is over until we take further steps,” Deal said.
The sorority is taking time to reflect on its risk-management policies and how its members help each other in social situations, she said.
In 2000, the national organizations of 13 out of the 15 sororities on campus restricted their local chapters from co-sponsoring events with alcohol at fraternity houses.
It has not yet been confirmed whether the party was a two-way, Deal said, which Delta Delta Delta and other sororities are restricted from holding by their respective national organization policies.
Sigma Kappa and Sigma Delta Tau are the only sororities on campus permitted by their national organizations to co-sponsor events with fraternities.
Deal said Panhel supports whatever the national organizations for each sorority decide.
“Because it”s their policy, we are not responsible for enforcing that. It”s not written into our policies,” Deal said.
However, sorority members can still attend events, Deal said.
“Because the women aren”t co-sponsoring any more, the parties have been open to accommodate all chapters. You still need to be invited, but there aren”t two-ways or four-ways anymore,” Deal said.
Ann Arbor Police Sgt. Michael Logghe said no one has been charged in either case for third-degree criminal sexual conduct and detectives are still investigating the incident.