Collegetown Assault
After Assault, Students Consider Next Steps at Community Forum
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The S.A. called for an open forum on Sunday to receive student input on the University’s next steps after recent racially charged events on campus.
The Cornell Daily Sun (https://cornellsun.com/tag/psi_upsilon/page/2/)
The S.A. called for an open forum on Sunday to receive student input on the University’s next steps after recent racially charged events on campus.
Cornell is investigating Psi Upsilon after a black student said he was punched by a group of white students who called him the N-word, but the fraternity says its members were not involved.
Black Students United declared a “state of emergency for black students” and Cornell President Martha Pollack issued a series of initiatives on Sunday following an assault in Collegetown.
While the University has not named Psi Upsilon, an unaffiliated fraternity, or its members, as responsible for the assault, Black Students United at Cornell said Psi Upsilon members took part in the assault, and many students have privately posited the same belief.
The events reported earlier tonight by The Sun are incredibly disturbing and merit immediate and comprehensive action by the University and the Interfraternity Council. Early Friday morning, a black Cornell student told The Sun he was verbally and then physically assaulted outside of his residence after attempting to break up a fight around 1 a.m. The student, who was struck repeatedly in the face, was hospitalized.
District Attorney Matthew Van Houten declined to comment on whether the initial court documents alleging that Ballinger locked a woman in his fraternity bedroom and attempted to have sex with her were accurate.
In an attempt to protect the prosperity of the fraternity and the safety of its members, the alumni board of Psi Upsilon decided to shut down the fraternity until the board deems it fit. Though the members of the campus fraternity have been deactivated, the chapter maintains its official recognition in the eyes of the University.
“While Cornell University still recognizes Psi Upsilon as an active fraternity on campus, the alumni have de-activated all of its members,” said Travis Apgar, associate dean of students for fraternity and sorority affairs, in light of the recent events.
Mike Bergelson ’95, alumni president of the chapter, explained the alumni’s decision to temporarily suspend the fraternity.