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GRAND FORKS, N.D. (AP) — A University of North Dakota fraternity chapter has been placed on limited operations pending a police investigation into whether a gay man was assaulted and subjected to taunts about his sexual orientation.
The alleged incident reportedly happened at the Lambda Chi Alpha house in Grand Forks last weekend. The University of North Dakota and Grand Forks police departments are investigating, school president Robert Kelley said Wednesday.
Kelley sent a letter to University of North Dakota students, saying that although the school didn't know all of the details, he was deeply concerned by the report. He said the incident is even more disconcerting given that it followed the city's recent gay pride celebration.
"I want to be very clear: violent behavior of this nature is not tolerated at UND," Kelly said. "Any student or student organization found to have violated the UND Code of Student Life will be subject to disciplinary action."
Lambda Chi Alpha's national headquarters in Indianapolis restricted UND's Epsilon-Zeta chapter from all formal activities on Wednesday.
"We take this alleged incident extremely seriously, and although there isn't any sufficient information to support the claims, we are working in partnership with the university and local law enforcement to ensure an immediate and thorough investigation is completed," Nick Zuniga, the national fraternity's director of chapter services, said in a statement.
Student Body President Matt Kopp said in a statement that such incidents do not reflect the values of the school's fraternities and sororities.
"It is imperative that we create a safe environment for all within our campus community," Kopp said.
Zuniga said Lambda Chi Alpha is an inclusive organization that welcomes young men of any ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation or nationality. He said the fraternity takes pride and celebrates diversity with a zero tolerance policy for discrimination or intolerance of members or guests.
Neither the UND chapter nor the fraternity's headquarters will make further statements until the investigation is completed, Zuniga said.
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