Five University of Mississippi students were arrested after allegedly assaulting another student at the Sigma Pi fraternity house on campus, where they said they were trying to steal a statue. One of the students was a member of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity and the other four were pledges.
The five students—James Declan Basile, Tucker Cole Steil, Austin Rice, Christian Guy and Kyle Hughes—told investigators that they went to the Sigma Pi fraternity house early on the morning of Oct. 6 to steal a donkey statue kept by the Sigma Pi chapter. There, Jeremy Boyle, a Sigma Pi member, was assaulted, suffering several serious injuries.
“It was shocking,” Brian Boyle, victim Jeremy Boyle’s father, told The Daily Mississippian. “There is a different culture in the South. People have good behavior. It’s not something you would have expected. Especially at Ole Miss.”
The Pi Kappa Alpha national office announced that its Ole Miss chapter has kicked the five students out of the fraternity.
“The event was not a part of any chapter activities and chapter leadership initiated internal judicial proceedings upon learning of the incident,” national Pi Kappa Alpha spokesman Brent Phillips said in a statement.
Ole Miss spokesman Danny Blanton told the Associated Press that the university does not believe the Pi Kappa Alpha chapter broke university rules against hazing.
“It’s the individual actions of five students,” Blanton said.
Everybody loves a good prank, but violence is not the answer, guys. No donkey statue is worth beating someone up. Seriously.