AKA Chapter at SLU Suspended & Deactivated
Skee OuiZy
Southeastern deactivates AKA chapter
The approximately 15-member Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority chapter at SLU in Hammond was ordered on June 24 into inactive status for three years. At the end of that period, the sorority may seek to reapply, Christina Chapple, SLU spokeswoman, said Friday.
Tangipahoa Parish sheriff's deputies said Friday they arrested eight AKA sisters at SLU on counts of hazing, false imprisonment or other violations. All eight were arrested between Aug. 11 and 19, jail officials said.
Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Dawn Panepinto said she could not describe what incident prompted the arrests but would say only that the incident occurred on or about Jan. 7 in a house at 18233 Old Covington Highway, Hammond.
Also, Panepinto would not confirm aspects of the incident aired in other news reports, saying doing so could compromise an ongoing investigation under way since February. She said the case has been turned over to District Attorney Scott Perrilloux of the 21st Judicial District.
But seven of the eight arrested woman are the same students who sued SLU in April in state court to block their suspension over an alleged hazing incident Jan. 8, federal civil court records show.
According to court documents, SLU student Ariel Ellis accused the seven of locking her in a room in January, making her take her clothes off, beating her with a belt and a paddle, asking questions about her sex life and forcing her to simulate oral sex with a banana.
Ellis recanted her claims two days later and then later reinstated them. SLU officials asserted one of the sorority sisters urged Ellis to recant, records show.
Harry Lawrence Daniels III, an attorney who represents the seven woman in the civil suit, said his clients stand firm that no hazing occurred and there is no evidence that hazing occurred.
On April 28, U.S. District Judge Mary Ann Vial Lemmon dissolved a temporary restraining order that had briefly halted the sorority members' suspensions. The suit had been moved to federal court April 16.
Three students involved in the case were suspended for one year, Chapple said. Two were suspended for a semester and the remaining three were given disciplinary probation, which allows them to go to classes under certain conditions.
The disciplinary actions depended on the students' involvement, but Chapple declined to say which students received what actions.
She said the sorority did not have a sanctioned house either on or off the SLU campus. Chapple also said the alleged incident that led to the university's disciplinary actions occurred in a private home.
Panepinto and jail officials said those arrested and the crimes with which they were booked are:
- Casandra Boyd, 24; obscenity, simple battery, hazing and false imprisonment.
- Ashley Sias, 23; hazing and false imprisonment.
- Jhade Watts, 22; hazing, false imprisonment and simple battery.
- Nikki Lawrence, 21; hazing, false imprisonment, simple battery, obscenity and theft.
- Loretta Miller, 21; hazing and false imprisonment.
- Bonita Taylor, 21; hazing and false imprisonment.
- Jennifer Matthews, 21; hazing and false imprisonment.
- Ravae Flowers, 21; false imprisonment and simple battery.
All but Sias are plaintiffs in the suit against SLU, court records show. All are out of jail on their own recognizance except for Flowers, ho was released on a $25,500 bond Aug. 11, jail officials said.
Based in Chicago, AKA is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year and is the nation's first Greek-letter organization for black college women.
International sorority president Barbara A. McKinzie is scheduled to speak next month to a United Nations conference in Paris about the AKA's 100-year "record of advancing human rights," a news release says.
The conference marks the 60th anniversary of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which honorary sorority member and now-deceased first lady Eleanor Roosevelt had a role in fashioning.
A sorority spokeswoman said Friday she was not aware of the arrests and that she was not prepared to comment.