A fight broke out on one of the buses bringing students back from Senior Night early Friday morning. The fight began as the bus approached the River Campus and spilled out into the Towers parking lot near Wilson Boulevard, where Security and the Rochester Police Department were called at 2:10 a.m., according to UR Security Investigator Dan Lafferty.
The fight began as the result of the suspect making derogatory remarks about the Sigma Alpha Mu Fraternity. The suspect proceeded to push the victim aside as he exited the bus, and without provocation, began punching the victim in the face, witnesses said.
Upon their arrival, security officers were met by an individual who claimed that he had been struck in the face. By that time, however, the suspect had left the scene. The victim sustained lacerations across his nose and had swelling, but refused medical attention, according to the police report.
The victim claimed to know where the suspect lived and what he looked like, but was not sure of his name at the time. Police, security and the victim then went to Psi Upsilon Fraternity, where he identified one of the members as being the suspect. Police then took him into custody, but later released him after the victim recanted his identification.
The victim has since refused to identify the assailant. The case is still being investigated by security investigators and RPD to determine the people responsible and to make the appropriate charges, according to Lafferty.
“No one has been officially charged with anything,” said Associate Dean of Students Matthew Burns, who is involved with the investigation. “I would anticipate formal charges to come from this incident.”
Continuing, he said, “You can’t expect things to go right all the time.What you can expect is for groups to hold themselves accountable and to act responsibly. That includes bringing information forward, trying to see what happened, and trying to make amends and changes.”
A similar incident occurred last Oct. in the Liquor Room, when a fight erupted as students were waiting for the bus back to campus. Senior Night was then suspended while investigators gathered information, but was soon reinstated as witnesses came forward to provide evidence.
“If incidents like this continue, I might take action,” Burns said. “But for now it’s up to the class council to decide what actions they’re going to take.”
This time, however, Senior Night activities will not be suspended, according to Burns and members of the 2006 Class Council.
“As we continue the process of planning senior night activities, we want to stress the importance of students conducting themselves in a respectful way,” Senior Class Council President Emily Augustine said. “We can’t have incidents like these happen again.”
The council is currently reviewing plans to change the shuttle system that takes students to and from the events.
“It’s unfortunate that things like this have to happen during senior night,” senior Laura Blodgett said. “But again I don’t think they should cancel or change the events in any way in response to the actions of a few irresponsible people.”Fernandez can be reached at mfernandez@campustimes.org.
