WSU sorority charged in City Park incident
Washington State University has filed disciplinary charges against a sorority that sponsored an event in Coeur d'Alene last weekend that disrupted a memorial service in City Park.
Kappa Kappa Gamma has been charged by WSU with disorderly conduct and alcohol violations after a Coeur d'Alene man reported drunken students vomiting and urinating in full view of his family, who had gathered for a memorial service for his teenage nephew.
The man called the college's announcement Wednesday of charges against the sorority "a step in the right direction in light of the vulgar behavior."
He questioned why sororities and fraternities are still around.
"It seems like an antiquated leftover of 'Animal House,'" he said. "With the amount of information they had to go on, I doubt they will be able to cite individuals, but as a group they definitely need to be sanctioned."
Attempts to reach the sorority and its president by phone and email Wednesday were unsuccessful. According to the chapter website, the WSU chapter was founded in 1920.
The website describes the women of the chapter as "classy and involved students" who value "honesty, exceptional grades, sincerity and having a wonderful college experience."
The man who complained to the college said dozens of intoxicated men and women disembarked from busses at Independence Point on Saturday afternoon. Several vomited in the nearby bushes, he said.
He snapped a picture of several women crouched and urinating in the park alongside the back wall of the Museum of North Idaho. Wet spots on the wall were from men in the group urinating on the wall, he said.
The students, who were wearing matching sweatshirts, identified themselves as being from Washington State University sororities and fraternities. They boarded cruise boats following the incident at City Park.
WSU Dean of Students Melynda Huskey said an initial review of the complaint revealed the chapter had sponsored a cruise on Lake Coeur d'Alene and also chartered the busses the students exited.
"We have established that WSU students were involved in the public urination incident and the WSU Office of Student Standards and Accountability has sent notice of charges to the president of the sorority," Huskey said in a press release. "Additional disciplinary actions may be taken as more information becomes available to us, particularly if we are able to confirm the identities of individual students."
Students and student organizations involved could face sanctions under WSU's student conduct code, the release said, from warnings and probation to community service, suspension or expulsion.