Fraternity Suspended in Thefts at Sororities

A fraternity has been suspended from campus activities at California State University, Northridge, after Los Angeles police arrested four members on suspicion of burglarizing two sorority houses, school officials said.

Authorities said the fraternity members took trophies and plaques from as many as four sororities in hopes of using the loot to persuade the sororities to have parties with them.

The suspension, imposed Monday, restricts the 54-member Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity from taking part in school events, parties and intramural sports until an investigation determines whether the students acted individually or with the fraternity’s knowledge, said Mary Cronopulos-Raz, CSUN’s coordinator of student discipline.

Cronopulos-Raz, an assistant to the dean of students, termed the incident “a prank that got out of hand.”

“It was a shocking event for the girls,” she said. “The university felt the fraternity members should be held accountable.”

The school’s sanctions against the students could range from a formal reprimand to expulsion, Cronopulos-Raz said.

The incident that led to the suspension began at 2 a.m. Monday when the four fraternity members entered the Sigma Kappa sorority house on White Oak Avenue near CSUN and removed trophies and plaques, Los Angeles Police Detective Bill Karalekas said.

Police were alerted when a sorority member called the emergency 911 number after she awoke to find a man standing over her bed, Karalekas said. Shortly after receiving the call, police stopped a car for speeding near the campus and found similar goods from up to four sorority houses in the vehicle, he said.

Arrests in 2 Cases

Richard Williams, director of campus activities and Greek organizations, said the students were arrested only in connection with the Sigma Kappa break-in and one at Alpha Phi sorority because police had not been notified of the raids at the other sororities.

The students were identified by police as Timothy Boyd, 21, Peter Sewall, 18, Kevin Tully, 23, and Robin Waner, 18, all of Los Angeles.

Sewall said in a telephone interview Thursday that he and his friends thought of the raids as a way to meet sorority members. In one raid, he said, they took trophies from the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority, then returned openly to give back the loot.

Sewall said he regretted frightening members of the Sigma Kappa sorority. He insisted that Lambda Chi Alpha had no advance knowledge of the raids.

‘Had No Idea’

“We did it on our own. We didn’t intend any harm and I’m sorry it came out this way. We had no idea of the consequences,” said Sewall, who spent two days in jail before he was released. The other students were also released.

After the arrests, the fraternity revoked the associate membership of Waner, Williams said. The other three members were suspended for 1 1/2 years, he said.

The case has been turned over to the city attorney’s office, police said.

School officials said Lambda Chi Alpha is not known as a raucous fraternity and has no history of misconduct.