From SMU's crime logs, we bring you a brief, somewhat disturbing, deeply weird police report: at 8:18 last night, campus police reported that a student was "was assaulted and held against his will" at the university's Sigma Phi Epsilon house. The case is being classified as "Aggravated Assault/Aggravated Kidnapping/Personal Hazing Offense/Unlawful Restraint."
Sigma Phi is also the house where 19-year-old sophomore John David Mahaffey is accused of forcing another student to perform oral sex. Mahaffey has reportedly been suspended from the frat pending the outcome of that case.
We don't know much yet about the alleged assault; whoever was answering the phones at the SMU Police Department said only that "all of our information goes through News and Information." That sounds like a riddle, but really it was a polite yet firm invitation to call SMU's media department. The media folks, in turn, hadn't heard about the incident, but said they'd look into it. We'll update accordingly.
What we do know: there may have been a frat party at SMU last night, as evidenced by this tweet from a student. "Woo hoo SMU frat party, wazzzzam," it reads poetically. But was the party at Sigma Phi? Did it in fact merrit a "wazzzam"? Wasn't rush week last month or something? Are these damn kids still hazing each other?
So many questions. The crime logs say the case is under investigation by the SMU police; we have a call in to the media folks and will update as soon as we hear back.
Update, 1:20 p.m.: SMU spokesperson Kent Best sends over this statement:
SMU takes seriously any allegations of student misconduct. SMU Police are vigorously investigating this case. Pending results of the investigation, SMU has placed the Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity chapter on temporary deferred suspension, which prohibits the chapter from hosting any activities, among other sanctions. Because it is an active investigation, no other information is available at this time.
