(U-WIRE) PHILADELPHIA – University of Pennsylvania chapters of the Kappa Sigma fraternity and the Chi Omega sorority are currently under investigation for complaints about destructive behavior at a recent pledge event.

The Feb. 4 event – a snow-tubing outing attended by approximately 120 members of the two chapters – resulted in claims by the owners of Spring Mountain ski resort of disorderly conduct and damage to a restroom.

The Office of Student Conduct is looking into the allegations.

Neither the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs nor the individual chapters would comment on the situation until the investigation is complete.

Spring Mountain owner Gayle Buckman said that upon the arrival of the first bus of students around 7 p.m., it was immediately clear that they had been drinking.

“They obviously smelled of alcohol,” she said.

Buckman said that she had warned the Kappa Sigma brothers – who had made the reservation – that no misconduct would be tolerated. She said she was wary of booking a fraternity in the first place due to problems with similar groups unaffiliated with Penn in the past. Kappa Sigma had assured her that there would be no problems.

Buckman said that the first group attempted to take soda bottles up the mountain with them. She forced them to dispose of the bottles before allowing them to proceed.

One of the initial problems, the owner said, was use of profanity by members of the group. She said that birthday parties were occurring simultaneously and parents were complaining to Spring Mountain workers. This led Buckman to send members of the ski patrol to stand with the students while they waited in line.

“They just didn’t care,” she said. “That was the most upsetting to us.”

Buckman was watching the group from her window when she saw a member of Kappa Sigma attempting to ride his snow tube down the side of the mountain reserved for skiing – an action she described as “basically suicide.”

Although the individual was stopped before making it down the hill, at that point Buckman decided that the group was completely unfit to snowtube.

The first bus had been at Spring Mountain – which is located approximately 35 miles from Penn’s campus in Spring Mount, Pa. – for about 45 minutes when the second bus arrived, after having gotten lost. At this point, Buckman refused to allow the second group to tube and asked the entire party to leave.

– Lauren Sloss

However, before departing, another member of Kappa Sigma asked to be shown to the restroom. While there, he reportedly ripped the lid off the back of a toilet and used it to smash the bowl, Buckman said.

Although Buckman said that some members of the group were snide and others were even angry, she did say that the leaders of Chi Omega and Kappa Sigma present at the event were “very apologetic and embarrassed.”

Buckman reported the incident to OFSA soon after.

“We told them before that this was a family place,” she said. “Not for fraternities.”

Wharton junior and Chi Omega president Maria DeMuro said that neither she nor anyone else in the sorority was available to comment, other than to say the chapter was fully cooperating with the University to resolve the issue as quickly as possible.

Kappa Sigma president Joe Gay also said that the fraternity officially had no comment. However, Buckman did say that she received a letter of apology from Kappa Sigma, which the engineering junior confirmed.

OFSA will not comment on the events or possible consequences until the OSC has completed its investigation and reports its findings. OFSA will determine appropriate punishments for the chapters if anything is reported by the OSC.

Greek organizations have faced a wide array of punishment in the past, from simple reprimand to removal from campus.

Most recently, the Penn chapter of Zeta Beta Tau fraternity – which was already on probation – was shut down last spring following a rush violation that resulted in two students being sent to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania due to alcohol poisoning and various bodily injuries. This had been the fourth policy violation by ZBT in three years.