Hopkins Campus Safety and Security intervened at an event last Friday in the Glass Pavilion hosted by the historically African-American sorority Sigma Gamma Rho after the fire alarm was set off.
Campus Security was also made aware of two violent incidents later that night, one regarding an injured non-affiliate by the breezeway and another of aggravated assault on the 3400 block of Wyman Park Drive. Because those involved did not comment, further details could not be gleaned.
Sophomore Burcu Atay, Desk Manager at Levering, was working during the time of the Sigma Gamma Rho event.
“It got out of control," she said. Atay noticed that there was alcohol in the building, but not at the event itself.
Security had been hired to prevent alcohol from entering the room and to make sure that the building wasn't over-capacity, Director of Levering Hall/Mattin Center Jane Rhyner said. They kept track of students by marking their hands with Xs.
Atay thought that there were more than 200 people in attendance comprised of Hopkins students as well as students from Loyola, Towson and Morgan State universities.
Rachel Drennen, Coordinator of Greek Life and Orientation at Johns Hopkins, did not have enough information on the Sigma Gamma Rho party to comment for The News-Letter.
“If any student organization policies were violated by a Hopkins student group, then that student group will be held accountable by the student conduct process,” Drennen wrote in an email to The News-Letter.
Sigma Gamma Rho also did not have any information to release, according to their president, senior Tola Lawal.
The fire alarm was triggered around midnight. Atay did not know what had caused the alarm to go off. “I called the Security to help us, but people didn’t want to get out because it was rainy and cold so Security had to throw them out forcefully,” Atay said.
Campus Security cleared the building with the help of the Baltimore Police and Fire Department. Lieutenant Mark Long, a member of Campus Safety and Security's Investigations team, reported that there was no fire in or around the building.
Security also responded to an incident near the Breezeway. “As event goers left the building and were leaving the campus, an unconfirmed report of an altercation near the Ames/Krieger breezeway came to our attention,” Long wrote in an email to The News-Letter.
“Campus officers and off-duty Baltimore Police working for JHU responded to find a gathering, but no altercation,” Long explained in the email.
“One non-affiliated male was bleeding from his mouth/lip area. When officers attempted to speak with him, the non-affiliate refused to give any information pertaining to how he obtained the injury. The non-affiliate also refused medical treatment and/or transport by ambulance. The non-affiliate left the campus and the gathering quickly dispersed.”
Since the individuals that remained near the Breezeway area did not provide any information on what had transpired, no further conclusions could be made about the situation.
Long noted that a separate incident of “aggravated assault” occurred on the 3400 block of Wyman Drive around 12:30 a.m.
“Baltimore Police spoke to the alleged victim who appeared to be, ‘extremely intoxicated’ while he was being treated at the Greater Baltimore Medical Center (GBMC) in Towson, MD,” Long wrote.
The assault was also reported via email in Monday’s Campus Safety and Security Incident Report.
According to Long, the incidents that occurred this past weekend will cause Campus Safety and Security to review their event and security procedures with the Dean of Student Life’s Office, The Office of Greek Life and the Director of Levering Hall regarding all on campus events.
This article was updated on Feb. 25, 2013 to retract Burcu Atay's original statement that alcohol was served at the party and that students needed an X on their hands to drink. Alcohol was not served at the party, and the X's were there to keep track of the number of students at the party.
