Agitated by a suggestion that other Kappa Alpha Psi members allegedly brawled with security at a downtown nightclub, the fraternity’s faculty adviser Richard White wanted to make one thing clear.
White said, to his knowledge, only UNM football players Julion Conley, Bryant Williams and Joe Harris — all members of the fraternity — were involved in an altercation at Lotus Nightclub early Thanksgiving morning, even though an Athletics Department statement sent out Nov. 26 quoted head coach Mike Locksley as saying, “several members of a fraternity on campus were involved in an altercation at a downtown nightclub.”
White said the coverage on the brawl has unnecessarily thrust the fraternity into the spotlight.
“I don’t think we would have been implicated in this situation if somebody hadn’t put our name in there,” he said. “If we had hosted a party or something, we’d be having a totally different conversation. It’s just individuals acting on their own. Unfortunately, our fraternity is attached to behavior of others, and we have to make sure we take proper actions.”
The fallout prompted White to suspend all social activities for the remainder of the academic school year. That all fraternity members are suffering from the actions of a few is unfortunate, White said, but it’s necessary to send a deterrent message and uphold the organization’s tenets of accountability, achievement and excellence.
This came a day after Kim Kloeppel, with the Dean of Students, told the Daily Lobo that her office was investigating the matter to determine whether the three football players breached the University’s Student Code of Conduct. She said it also planned to explore whether other Kappa Alpha Psi members were involved in the scuffle or were with Conley at the club when the incident occurred.
Kloeppel had few new details Tuesday and said her office had yet to receive the APD report, but some of her staff members had phoned the club owner and Athletics representatives to find more information.
If found to have violated UNM’s Student Code of Conduct, Conley, Williams and Harris face “verbal/written warnings, disciplinary probation, suspension or possible expulsion,” according to the sanctions section.
Because it was not a sponsored fraternity event, White admitted he hadn’t looked into the incident and said the players acted on their own. He said their behavior is not indicative of what the fraternity promotes.
At least four security personnel and a go-go dancer were injured in the brawl when security personnel said someone with Conley tried to gain access to the nightclub’s 21-and-over section using Conley’s ID.
No criminal charges have been filed against Williams or Harris, but an APD spokeswoman said Monday that the two would likely be summoned to court in the future. As for Conley, his court date is still pending, and owner Brian Craig has threatened to take criminal and civil action against the three football players.
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