Thursday, June 6, 1996
Incident reportedly happened during fraternity retreatBy Marie
Blanchard
Daily Bruin Contributor
Three UCLA students were arrested on charges of rape early
Saturday morning after a fellow student accused them of sexually
assaulting her at a fraternity sponsored weekend event.
The three undergraduate students, Kristof Hamrick, 21, Cheyenne
Joseph Mount, 20 and Jack Ripsteen 21, are all members of the Zeta
Beta Tau fraternity. They were attending an end-of-the-year
celebration hosted by the fraternity at the Royal Sun hotel in Palm
Springs last weekend.
The alleged victim, a member of a UCLA sorority, claimed she was
raped by all three men successively after she had gone back to
their hotel room late Friday night, according to Det. Michael
McCabe of the Palm Springs police department.
The alleged victim told police that she went back to the room
with the three suspects. She also told police that she and the
suspects were drinking alcohol and smoking marijuana while playing
a game called "masters."
According to police, the victim said that the men began to
undress her during the game, and they then sexually assaulted
her.
"She told them to stop and they didn’t," McCabe said.
The alleged victim also claims there was a fourth male present
in the room while the alleged rapes occurred, McCabe added.
Police agreed that there was another male in the room, though he
is currently unidentified. Palm Springs police are still searching
for him.
After the alleged rapes, the woman returned to her own hotel
room and was taken to the hospital by another student, according to
police. At the hospital, she informed emergency room workers that
she had been assaulted.
A woman knowledgeable about the incident said that the alleged
victim was brought to the hospital because she began hemorrhaging
after the alleged attack.
After the young woman filed charges early Saturday morning,
police went to the hotel and arrested Hamrick, Mount and Ripsteen
at approximately 8 a.m., according to Sgt. Michael McCraken of Palm
Springs Police Department.
The three were taken to jail where they were released after
posting $25,000 each in bail.
Gary Schwartz, the executive adviser of the Los Angeles Zeta
Beta Tau chapter, said that the men are admitting that sex did
occur in the hotel room, but that it was consensual. He added that
the fraternity is currently standing by the accused men.
"The suspects have a different perception of the events that
took place that night. They claim that consensual sex took place
between the female and two of the suspects," Schwartz said. He
would not identify the two suspects.
Though the men refused to comment on the accusations, the
fraternity house issued a press release stating that it was ZBT’s
"desire that the legal system determine the guilt or innocence of
the individuals involved."
The statement also said if the allegations are proven, those
responsible will be punished.
Although the alleged victim has refused to speak to the press,
the student’s sorority issued a statement requesting that the media
respect their desire for privacy on the matter.
"We appreciate the support we have received from the UCLA
community during the time of crisis. Rape crisis counselors have
been working closely with the victim and members of the sorority,"
the statement said.
The statement also said that the sorority would not participate
in any public demonstration.
Palm Springs police believe that alcohol and drugs were involved
in the alleged rape.
"The victim has said that she and the suspects had been drinking
heavily throughout the night and that they had smoked marijuana,"
McCabe said.
The memory of the victim was still "clouded" as a result of her
drinking and drug use, police said.
Geoff Cross, owner of the Royal Sun hotel, was surprised about
the allegations.
"We had five security guards on that night," Cross said. "Had
there any noise or disturbances we would have heard them."
Dana Ostemel, a first-year world arts and culture student,
attended the weekend event. She felt that it was well organized and
had run smoothly throughout the weekend.
"I was expecting it to be more animal house-ish and chaotic, but
it wasn’t overwhelming at all," Ostemel said." People were
partying, but the place wasn’t thrashed."
However, she also claimed that there had been 30-50 kegs of beer
available throughout the weekend. She didn’t see any drugs during
the event, Ostemel said, but she believed there were drugs
present.
The presence of kegs at any fraternity-sponsored event is a
violation of Interfraternity Council rules, Pi Kappa Alpha
President Todd Doyle said.
"Zeta Beta Tau does not condone the use of drugs or underage
drinking," Schwartz said. The problem will be dealt with internally
by the organization, he said.
Robert Naples, the assistant vice chancellor for student and
campus life, said that the university is still trying to get
information before deciding how to act on the issue.
"The university has codes of conduct for events that take place
on campus or are officially recognized off campus; this was
neither," Naples said.
"If the suspects are convicted of the charges or if it is
determined they are a danger to the university community, they will
risk expulsion," Naples continued.
The university will not take action against the suspects now, he
added.
Zeta Beta Tau, whose UCLA chapter was first established in 1920,
has agreed to suspend all social activities of the UCLA
undergraduate chapter until July 1, pending review of the
accusations, according to Winston Doby, the vice chancellor for
student affairs.
The three men will be arraigned July 1. If charged, they will be
pleading not guilty, and will have separate lawyers, according to
Schwartz.
If convicted they could face up to 15 years in state prison.
See related story:
Communities react to hype, stereotypes
STEFANIE CHAO
Zeta Beta Tau fraternity will suspend all social activites until
July 1, pending a review of the chapter.