Hanover Police issued multiple complaints to the Psi Upsilon and Theta Delta Chi fraternities for serving alcohol to minors, according to a Tuesday press release. The two charges come in the wake of a similar press release last week that announced Sigma Delta sorority will face charges for the same offense, and charges were made last May against the Tabard co-ed fraternity for serving to minors last May.
Arraignment dates for Psi U and Theta Delt are scheduled for Oct. 25 and Nov. 15, respectively.
Hanover Police issued Psi U three complaints for serving minors and Theta Delt four complaints after officers made multiple arrests during the night of Sept. 18 and the early morning hours of Sept. 19, according to the release. An ensuing investigation revealed that the four minors had obtained alcohol from the fraternities.
Serving alcohol to minors carries felony charges under New Hampshire state law. Greek organizations are considered corporations, and because of this classification that they can be fined as much as $100,000 per conviction of serving alcohol to minors.
These charges break precedent from those issued to Sigma Delt and Tabard. Last spring, along with four other Greek organizations, both Sigma Delt and Tabard were investigated for providing alcohol to minors, but all charges were to be dropped if the organizations complied with the law in the future.
Hanover Police announced that Sigma Delt would be tried in a Sept, 30 press release. On Sept. 21, an intoxicated 19 year old was found to have been drinking at the sorority, according to Hanover Police.
In May, Hanover Police issued an official warning to the sorority's president, saying that further violations of the New Hampshire liquor law would result in "prosecution for all cases, past and present."
Tabard was also told that a charge of serving alcohol to minors, which was made in April, would be suspended if they did not violate the law again. Hanover Police picked up a student who was under 21 and who had been drinking at the fraternity on May 27, however, which resulted in Hanover Police bringing both charges against Tabard.
Tabard pled "no contest" to the charges, which indicates that the defendant will not challenge or claim guilt for the charge.
The no contest plea was "not an admission of guilt, it was simply a resolution," attorny Tim Clark, who represented Tabard, said in an interview.
Tabard ultimately agreed to pay a $2,000 fine for each charge and to complete 500 community service hours. Their plea bargain also included an agreement to comply fully with the College's alcohol policies.
The investigations came after Hanover Police's February announcement that it would begin controversial "sting operations" at Greek houses to enforce compliance with alcohol laws. The police later indefinitely postponed the compliance checks following immense backlash from the student body and the creation of the Student and Presidential Alcohol Harm Reduction Committee, formed by College President Jim Yong Kim to address problems with the campus's drinking culture.
Theta Delt President Tim Dolan '11 declined to comment. Psi U President Billy Haley '11 and Hanover Police Chief Nicholas Giaccone could not be reached by press time.
