Criminal charges are pending against one member of the Lambda Upsilon Lambda fraternity and campus charges will be filed against the fraternity after a hazing incident on North Campus early Tuesday morning.
Ramon Pena was arrested in the Letchworth Woods, located between the Ellicott Complex and Sweet Home Road, for hazing two pledges, neither of whom attend UB.
University Police said they spotted Pena and two pledges, both of whom were wet and covered with mud, in the woods around 5:45 a.m. Tuesday. Pena was subsequently charged with second-degree hazing and referred to Amherst Town Court.
Luis M. Peralta, a Buffalo State College student, was one of the two pledges Pena was arrested for hazing. Peralta said he did not consider the incident hazing and is not interested in pressing charges against Pena.
Peralta said the group was walking through the woods when they saw the police and subsequently lay down on the ground to avoid being seen, resulting in the mud and water on their clothes.
Pena did not return phone calls for comment. The other pledge involved in the incident, a student at D'Youville College, was not available for comment.
Barbara Ricotta, dean for student affairs, said Lambda Upsilon Lambda is not an officially recognized fraternity at UB but is in the process of seeking recognition though the Inter-Greek Council.
Ricotta said there will be charges against the fraternity, which will be handled through the Office of Greek Affairs.
She added that along with the criminal charges pending against Pena, campus charges will be forthcoming.
"We won't tolerate hazing on this campus," said Ricotta. "We'll do everything we can to stop it. That includes both criminal and campus charges."
UB's policy on hazing defines hazing as "any action taken or situation created, intentionally, whether on or off fraternity premises, to produce mental or physical discomfort, embarrassment, harassment, or ridicule."
It is unclear how the incident will affect the fraternity's push for recognition from UB, but Ricotta speculated it would not help Lambda Upsilon gain recognition should the charges prove to be true.
"I would think it would be detrimental to their chances of becoming a group on campus," Ricotta said.
Lambda Upsilon Lambda is a national fraternity with a recognized chapter at Buffalo State.
According to Buffalo State's Web site, the fraternity, also know as La Unidad Latino, is a service-oriented group focused on serving the Latino community.
UB has sanctioned or suspended fraternities for hazing in the past, as was the case in March 2003 when Sigma Chi Omega was suspended for hazing depicted on the MTV reality show "Fraternity Life."
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
