Seven members of the Zeta Phi Beta sorority who have been criminally charged with second-degree assault and hazing months after the sorority was suspended indefinitely in November will receive court dates from the state this month.
Of the seven members who were criminally charged with engaging in illegal acts during pledging, three are students and at least two are university alumnae.
The organization — a historically black sorority that has existed at this university for nearly 30 years, according to the organization’s website, and had four active members as of the fall semester — was suspended four months ago after hazing allegations made their way to administrators. Administrators said the suspension, which was issued Nov. 12, 2010, was indefinite so long as they were awaiting the outcome of a university investigation and the findings of Baltimore County Police and Prince George’s County Police, which have been investigating an incident from Oct. 18, 2010, according to court records.
Tomorrow, six of the seven women — alumna Bridget Blount, 24; student Montressa Hammond, 24; student Kandyce Jackson, 20; Tymesha Pendleton, 26; alumna Zakiya Shivers, 26; and Monika Young, 23 — will receive information regarding their trial dates; student Amber Bijou, 22, will receive hers on March 17. Reasons for the differing dates are unclear.
Most of the women did not respond to requests for comment. Jackson said she did not wish to say anything about the incident. Her lawyer, Anthony Faterni, also declined to issue a statement, claiming he did not have details about the case.
Matt Supple, Fraternity and Sorority Life Department director, said university action against the sorority will be determined, in large part, by the outcomes of the investigation.
“The suspension could be lifted and the sorority could [be] in good standing, or we could close the charter for a while,” he said. “We don’t typically close a chapter forever, but we can remove the charter for a while. We typically close charters for four years or until the last undergraduate student who was a part of the group has graduated.”
Once the investigation is complete, he said, the university will work with the sorority’s national headquarters to bring the charter back to this university.
Supple noted the university’s decision to suspend the sorority initially had more to do with an alleged violation of pledge rules than any criminal activity, as no charges had yet been levied.
“The chapter was in violation of our intake guidelines, so part of the suspension was also related to their failure to comply with our intake guidelines,” Supple said.
Student Conduct Office Assistant Director Tamara Saunders, who is overseeing the case, said she could not disclose information about actions the university will take against the individual members of the sorority, but she noted that disciplinary charges will likely be brought against the sorority as a whole.
Vice President for Student Affairs Linda Clement, who oversees Greek life issues, said no actions will be taken until more information is determined.
“What we have is accusations, nothing is proved,” she said. “No one is comfortable with these allegations, so it makes everyone uneasy. Its just allegations. We’re just waiting for more information.”
This university’s chapter of Zeta Phi Beta was founded in 1973, and Supple previously said he did not know of any incidents with the sorority since its inception. Zeta Phi Beta becomes the second historically black sorority to be suspended by administrators in the past year; Sigma Gamma Rho was suspended last year, according to Supple, and the group is not listed as a chapter on the DFSL website.
Freshman business major Meg Dailey, who is currently pledging a different sorority that she declined to name, said she thinks hazing is unacceptable.
“As a pledge, we’ve been taught about hazing, but we don’t do it,” she said. “If we are being hazed, we’re told to go to the councils or our president. I absolutely do not agree with hazing. It’s crazy.”
egan at umdbk dot com
