Greek Party Turns into Brawl
What was intended to be a resurrection for the UCA chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha turned into a brawl last night.
At about 11:15 p.m., Faulkner County sheriff’s deputies working private security at the Alpha Phi Alpha party at the Conway Expo Center and Fairgrounds called Conway Police Department to assist them in stopping the fight. At least 40 people were involved but there are no reports of injuries or arrest.
According to a report from the Conway Police Department, the Omega Psi Phi fraternity started the brawl shortly after they arrived at the party. The police report from the sheriff’s office was not available Friday.
The purpose of the party was to celebrate Alpha Phi Alpha’s return to campus after a two-year suspension for hazing. The party attracted between 700 and 800 people. Attendance was limited to UCA students, Alpha Phi Alpha members and their families.
According to witnesses, the fight began when a member of Omega Psi Phi pushed a member of Alpha Phi Alpha who was attending the party from another campus. The fight then quickly escalated into a brawl.
“The Theta Psi chapter (UCA chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha) was not involved in the altercation. Rather we were trying to break the fight up between Omega Psi Phi and other chapter members of Alpha Phi Alpha,” said Nick Farr, president of the UCA chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha. “In the future, we will reassess the chapter members that we invite to social events. On campus, the brothers of Omega Psi Phi and Alpha Phi Alpha have a common bond and get along well.”
It was captured on a cellphone video. Take a look.
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Universities should ban all sororities & fraternities. They are disgusting social institutions and they do not belong in the ACADEMIC setting!
Nicole, then why does every ACADEMIC setting have them?
Nicole, We are not disgusting social institutions, at many universities we are what keep the interest in the University. Fights break out amongst individuals, groups, and ect. all the time and all over the world; and as far as an Academic setting, Academics is how we were able to join (fraternities and sororities!) With that being said, I don't encourage people to fight, but one thing I want to know is this? What Would You Do? If your brother got punched in the face and knocked out? or Ladies, getting jumped... #WWYD? STAND THERE? not... Also, quite a few people were trying to break up the fights... but I digress. This isn't the University I attend. Good day...
This video simply illustrates that there is no difference between frats and gangs. Ban 'em, they don't have any place in a academic setting. If you disagree, watch it again; repeat if necessary.
This makes UCA look so bad. Frat boys, get educated and get a life.
The commentary on that video is priceless
Don't worry, UCA has figured out a way to fix UCA's greek problems.........they are force-feeding a new fraternity to the IFC in February after ignoring the initial vote by "all" ifc frats to not bring them on......that'll surely help.
I'm just sick of this good ol' boy crap. I'm sick of 'oh, you belong to this or that sorority, blah, blah, blah...' 'Oh your daddy is who and you know how many VIPs.'
The sports and teams are just as bad and the mentality that goes along with those competitive things.
I'm sick of the professors who seem to be trying to make their classrooms little places where you're either welcomed or shunned based on your affiliations or personal beliefs.
I just wish that our universities could be places where anyone could feel welcomed and where we are not on different 'teams' and encouraged to compete against each other. I don't want anyone to get beat up, hurt, degraded, shamed, ridiculed, or made fun of. No one should have to 'loose' or be excluded or punished.
I know that this will never happen. It's just not the world we live in.
And Marquis... I do understand getting involved if people you love are being hurt. I would take anyone down who tried to hurt or offend someone I love. If a person is simply defending those they love from being injured and harassed, then he or she is obviously justified.
I agree with Frank and Jared!!!
One time I saw a video of a bunch of people who didn't know each other fighting at a Walmart, ban all Walmarts! Or.... Ban collections of people that don't know each other! Ban parties! Ban stores! Nicole and friends, do you see how stupid your position is?
The entire incident is one that bears correcting. The fact that this society condones vliolence is a testament to its sickness. The factors of respect, character and Godliness are laughed at and quickly dismissed as weak. The actions of self , ego , me first and plain I and no one else is coming home to roost. The actions of individuals is not a condemnation of many years of positive work and sacrifice incurred by Omega and Alpha. The organizations are not at fault in this matter , but the individuals who acted either in defense or assualtive behavior. Please be aware that the hand that points out an error has one finger pointing out and four back at the accuser. The statements that the Fraternities or Sororities should be eliminated is very much out of the context of ignorance, jealouosy or other ulterior motives. There is no outcry of praise or uplift when these Organizations award scholarships for those who are underprivileged, assist and mentor young people, or other Godly activity. Please , If Dr. king ( An Alpha ) and Dr. Drew ( An Omega ) could rise from the dead , they would surely say that the organizations that they belonged to was truly worhty and of benefit to all mankind. This incident is not endemic to the Organizations but to the individulas who chose to fight and brawl. Both Omega and Alpha must police these members and use corrective action. Enough said. Prof. Bro. Havon L. McLeod II , Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Inc. Lambda Omicron Graduate Chapter. Los Angeles Ca.
I totally disagree with Nicole, Frank and Jared. I think your rush to judgement is premature about Fraternities and Sororities. This is an isolated incident that school presidents have rules in place to police this behavior. Calling for them to be banned is not the answer. As the prof. said, this article would not have been posted if it was something positive. (thats the society we live in) Nicole, if you got into an altercation at Wal-Mart and started throwing punches, would it be fair to ban you from every Wal-Mart store? So put yourself in that persons situation. People tend to forget that this is America, and EVERYONE is innocent until proven guilty.
Professor, I completely agree with you that actions of individuals should be a condemnation of the good works of the organization, as a whole, has committed over a long period of time. That is the way the University of Central Arkansas works, however, the people of the University of Central Arkansas are quick to condemn the Greek organizations when individuals commit acts of a questionable nature.
As a member of Alpha Phi Alpha I know first hand the manly deeds and scholarship that is shown daily by both fraternities in question. I also agree that the recent actions of many neos (new members) is not a reflection of what the fraternities where founded upon in the first place. We are not gangs or clicks we are organizations founded for service. Somewhere along the way that has been lost in the shuffle. So to all of the members of your perspective organizations I challenge you to bring back the service and brotherhood not just in your chapter or fraternity or sorority but in the campus, community, city, and state that you are apart of. *steps off soap box*
It is not logical to ban all frats considering they make up 10% of the population, but if they wish to continue to function on the university and be considered student organizations then the frats involved with the multiple incidents year after year need to correct their behavior.
And how in the world did this Walmart thing get brought up? One's a store franchise and the other is a glorified club whose members brawl like a bunch of neanderthals. Like I said, get educated and get a life.
And please for the love of God don't let your biases of once being a frat boy get in the way of realizing what's going on on this campus.
Nicole sounds like a women who was turn down or dropped online....How about this Nicole they should ban parties period because if u think only Greeks Start fights u are a MORON! Bottom line is this Greek or Non Greek we go to college to LEARN and not to b3e acting like animals involved in a street fight....We are the few who had a CHANCE to go to college and these FOOLS acting like the dopes that hang on corners gang banging... Just glad my Frat wasnt involved in this stupid NONSENSE
I'd say folks are lashing out at fraternities and sororities because of all the issues UCA has had in recent years that were a direct result of an extension of fraternity relationships. Folks got jobs because they were frat bros with Lu Hardin. Meadors got his job because he was a member of the same frat as so and so.
That's the issue that really needs to be fixed.
Fraternities and sororities are an essential part of the university culture and many of their members go on to be big donors back to the school they love.
However-violence, hatred and nastiness have no place at our university in any capacity, especially not by our greek organizations. The entire greek community should be upset at these members for bringing negative attention to the greeks.
I was not a member of a frat or sorority, by the way, but I do see their value. All greek organizations require public service as part of their membership. Through their projects, the groups help a wide range of folks in our community, both on-campus and off.
I hope the greek community uses this event as something they can focus on and make plans to collectively education everyone in their membership against violence and what is basically gang behavior.
I think in this instance, it seems clear that these groups should have continued to be banned from UCA.
"As the prof. said, this article would not have been posted if it was something positive. (thats the society we live in)"
That statement is ignorant and wrong. There are a lot of positive articles about the frats and sororities on the fountain all of the time. It isn't the journalists fault if you don't care to actually read the positive ones. No one hardly reads the positive ones, and you can only blame readers for picking and choosing what they want to read about, which happens to be negativity. If this event was a success and everyone had a great time, it still would have been written, but I highly doubt it would have gotten the amount of views as this article has. Take your own advice and don't rush to your judgment.
Also at Nicole... I deal with a lot of faculty members, the majority of whom were NOT frat or sorority members... and IN FACT... they are anti-greek. So I'm not sure what classes you say you have experienced poor treatment in favor of greeks. I never hear faculty favoring greeks.
I've seen fights, brawls, etc between sororities, frats, individuals who are not greek affiliated (with high GPAs), and in the end it doesn't matter. You can't blame "greeks" in general for stuff like this. It is the INDIVIDUAL'S responsibility to act MATURELY. I've seen football players start a fight with a greek lettered organization just because there were greek. Do you blame the fraternity for defending themselves??? This case is just one bad instance but there are far more fights between students that are not in greek lettered organizations, so with that being said, how about you ban them as well. I am in a prestigious organization that does GRADUATE with a high GPA and I have friends in other frats. At my Alma Mater we had altercations, but it always started with one person acting immature. That's just bad home training or something not the organization's fault. Can't force anyone to grow up....letter or no letters. Be Blessed
Fraternities, Sororities should not and will not be banned from Universities and College campuses. They embody scholarship and civic duty. Is that not what academe was founded for? As stated several times in the previous responses, this altercation is the result of immatuirty. "Frat boys" ARE EDUCATED. And it is a FACT that these particular Fraternities live on far beyond their college days. So once a Frat boy, always a Frat boy (well at least those of the Divine 9 *google it*). Fraternities have been on campus since 1776 (Phi Beta Kappa) "Please be aware that the hand that points out an error has one finger pointing out and four back at the accuser." Prof. H.L.McLeod II made a very valid point.
Bro. Jaafar M. Angevin, MS - ALPHA PHI ALPHA FRATERNITY, INCORPORATED. Rho Lambda Alumni Chapter, Spr 09, Buffalo, NY
photos of Omega Psi phi feeding the public for Thanksgiving
http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/creativeapps/slideShow/Main.jsp?sourceId=533754321803&cm_mmc=Share-_-Personal-_-Email-_-Sharee-_-Images&_requestid=5468
Additional Omega Psi Phi Thanksgiving footage.
http://youtu.be/1H3Ds083QEE
Brian:
You sound like a professor!
"There are far more fights between students that are not in greek lettered organizations." -You can't back that up. Or anything else you said.
And 'oh, you can't blame the organizations, only the individuals'... Well, actually, yes I can. And I DO blame the organizations! It's not about 'bad home training' or the individuals. The reasons people do these things and react to them the way they do is because of the mentality associated with these organizations and it's about an entire culture being to blame.
And Brian, are you talking about banning students from universities because what you said was a little unclear. So we should ban students from the universities and just leave the professors and administrators to wallow in their supreme superiority all alone? Or are you saying we should we not be seen as individuals and only be acknowledged by our affiliations and be kicked out of school if we refuse to join these groups?
Also Brian,
"it always started with one person acting immature. That's just bad home training or something not the organization's fault" -that is simply total BS! I can say with about 100% certainty that there is no way in hell that these people learn to act like this because of 'home training'. People simply are not capable of this type of behavior in a home setting and they do not learn about this type of behavior until they get into little cut like groups such as these.
I meant cult not cut, lol.
Does anyone else think Adam lives in a bubble and does not know what he is talking about? A lot of positive articles about frats and sororities on the Fountain all the time? You could probably open up a comedy act saying that. People who are not part of fraternities and sororities itch, mind you, itch, for chances to splatter bad press for these organizations. If there ever is an article that could be labeled as positive, it is a joke of an article consisting of a few, paltry lines. Why? Because it is boring and not juicy and not a lot of people care to read or hear about good things these organizations actually do.
Take your own advice and shove it back where it came from, Neverland.