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University of Toledo student assaulted

Pi Kappa Phi chapter suspended pending investigation by UT and Toledo police

Pi Kappa Phi Toledo's Facebook Page

Pi Kappa Phi's logo for the Toledo Chapter is pictured above. Pi Kappa Phi's UT chapter has been active since 1951.

Colleen Anderson, Managing Editor

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Editor’s note: This story contains language that some of our readers may find offensive, including racial slurs and cursing. Reader discretion is advised.

Campus officials suspended Pi Kappa Phi fraternity’s local chapter while they investigate allegations of an off-campus, racially motivated assault on a University of Toledo student.

Rayshawn Watkins, a second-year majoring in marketing, filed a report early Sunday, Jan. 24, with the Toledo Police Department after he was allegedly attacked at a party hosted at the Pi Kappa Phi fraternity house at 3530 Dorr St.

The UT Pi Kappa Phi chapter was suspended without prejudice by the university and the national fraternity organization, which UT President Sharon Gaber said is standard during an investigation, and means that the suspension is not meant to reflect negatively on the chapter or imply that a decision has been made regarding their involvement.

Gaber said the exact repercussions will be unknown until the investigation has concluded, but any actions taken will be based on the guidelines found in the student code of conduct.

The president of UT’s chapter of Pi Kappa Phi did not respond to an email request for comment, but the national organization released a press release concerning the chapter’s status on Monday, Jan. 24. Chief Executive Officer Mark E. Timmes also said in the press release that members of UT Pi Kappa Phi have been instructed to cooperate fully with the investigation.

“The safety of our members and guests remains one of the fraternity’s chief priorities,” Timmes said in the press release. “Pi Kappa Phi is also committed to a culture of diversity and inclusion that promotes respect for the identities and backgrounds of all people.”

TPD has classified this incident as “ethnic intimidation by reason of race, color, religion or national origin.”

Watkins said as he walked up to the house entrance around 12 a.m. on Sunday, he heard shouts of the N-word from the windows above the frat house, but Watkins said he ignored it because “that happens every day here — people call me the N-word all the time.”

Later in the evening, Watkins said his friend’s girlfriend knocked over a Christmas light, and Watkins attempted to put it back in its place. According to Watkins, a member of Pi Kappa Phi approached and asked him what he was doing. Watkins also said the member was aggressive and used racial slurs during this encounter.

Watkins said that while another member of the fraternity told him not to worry about the occurrence, the initial Pi Kappa Phi member who had harassed him returned to the room, telling Watkins to “get the fuck out of my house, nigger.”

Watkins said after that, the Pi Kappa Phi member and 8 to 10 others began to attack him.

“I was slammed into the door multiple times, struck on head multiple times — all the frat members, they were even throwing glass bottles at me,” Watkins said.

The TPD report states that officers went to visit the Pi Kappa Phi house but received no answer when knocking on the door.

Watkins said that once the police investigation concludes, the detectives told him they will bring him their findings and he will be given the option on whether or not to press charges. Watkins declined to comment on whether or not he will press charges given the option.

This tweet surfaced on January 24th, and consisted of screenshots of a description of the situation and a Snapchat photo of Watkins sent after the incident occurred. President Gaber later replied to the tweet assuring students that the matter was being addressed.

The police report said that while the suspects have not yet been identified, friends of Watkins are confident they could identify the two main attackers via social media or pictures. Details about the two suspects’ clothing are included in the report as identifiers, and the report notes that both attackers are suspected to have been consuming alcohol.

Social media has been an important vehicle of communication throughout this incident. A friend of Watkins posted a Snapchat screenshot of him after the assault on Twitter, and several students began discussing the event on Twitter. Gaber said the incident was actually first brought to her attention after several students tagged @UToledo and @UTPresident in the conversation.

Gaber sent out a university-wide email the following morning, letting students know that both the TPD and the university were conducting respective investigations into the incident.

There have also been threats leveled against Pi Kappa Phi on Twitter, which Gaber addressed in another email sent Jan. 26. She wrote that while students are entitled to their opinion, implicit and explicit threats will not be tolerated and UTPD is already investigating some of these threats.

This message was also tweeted on Jan. 24, and is a compilation of a few of the threatening messages posted to social media accounts. President Gaber said the university is aware of threats being made via social media and that the University of Toledo Police are investigating them. UTPD and the Toledo Police Department will have increased police presence both on and off-campus in response to this incident.

Gaber said this assault calls attention to a wider national conversation on race, and that she plans to address the issue head-on through dialogue with the university.

“There’s a national conversation on university campuses about race, and what is administration doing to pay attention, to make sure that they’re looking at this and not ignoring race issues,” Gaber said. “I think that’s part of why we wanted to not let this languish and not pay attention. Clearly this is important, clearly we were cognizant of this.”

The university had already planned four Campus Conversations about Diversity sessions before the incident. In her second email, Gaber wrote that additional discussions will be held with student groups “to discuss how we have arrived at this point as a UT community and to get students’ solutions to move forward in a positive and constructive way.”

Gaber wrote in her first email that “the safety of our students is the highest priority of The University of Toledo and we have no tolerance for violence against them.”

Correction: This story has been updated to correctly reflect the correct time Watkins arrived at the party, and the identity of the person who initially knocked over the Christmas light.

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1 Comment

  • Themistocles Pierre

    Ray was not assaulted. Ray was the aggressor.

    [Reply]