Delta Delta Delta sorority and Theta Delta Chi fraternity will not be held criminally responsible for alleged new member hazing Fall term, the Hanover Police Department announced on Monday. While the Grafton County Attorney's Office determined there was insufficient evidence to support a criminal charge, it is not yet known if either organization or involved individuals will face College discipline.
The police investigation of the two organizations came as the result of a College inquiry into an anonymous tip about a Tri-Delt pledge activity that took place at Theta Delt. College officials uncovered information that potentially violated the New Hampshire hazing statue and reported it to the police as required by state law.
The police investigation consisted of "interviewing those who were asked to do certain things and those who did the asking," said Hanover Police Chief Nicholas Giaccone. Police concluded that an incident of questionable nature had occurred at Theta Delt.
Hanover Police said in a press release that although Tri-Delt pledges were required to perform a "provocative dance" for Theta Delts, "no nudity and no touching was involved."
The act "definitely merited an investigation," Giaccone said, but the activity was not one with a discernible outcome of psychological or physical harm, and therefore did not meet the requirements for a charge of student hazing.
College officials suspended their investigation when the Hanover Police inquiry began and expect to resume it now that the police are through, Dean of Residential Life Martin Redman said.
While Giaccone defined "provocative dance" as "a dance that one could consider as having sexual overtones," Redman said the context would determine the definition and whether or not the act was a violation of College policy.
"Define provocative. What might be provocative to one person might not to another. Out of context, I don't know what that means," Redman said.
It remains to be seen what the College's investigation will reveal.
"Dartmouth's approach has been to say what is the behavior, what is the intended outcome, who's participating and why, because it may or may not be a good thing," Redman said. "Hazing is probably nationally one of the fuzziest things to articulate -- very dependent on the context surrounding the incident."
Redman said that the fact the dancing was required is not necessarily a violation of the Dartmouth hazing policy, which he defined as "a little broader" than the New Hampshire policy.
"Generally, anything that's required for membership of a group would raise a question of inappropriate behavior," he said. "But just because it's required doesn't necessarily move it in that direction. It depends on the context."
The College notified Tri-Delt President Megan Escherich '05 via e-mail this morning of the police investigation's outcome. Escherich said she was glad the police did not have to get involved but could not comment further because the College is still investigating the incident.
"We're letting the investigation play out," Escherich said.
Theta Delt President Matt Nicholson '05 could not be reached for comment.
