The Cambridge License Commission voted last week to take no disciplinary action against Kappa Sigma for a false alarm at the fraternity house at 407 Memorial Drive on January 23.
Campus Police Lt. Stephen D. Joiner told the commission at Tuesday's hearing that the fraternity's smoke alarm went off as the result of a prank during which spilled flour and other foodstuffs engulfed the kitchen. Residents of the house were evacuated.
Prior to the hearing, the Office of the Dean of Students and Undergraduate Education and Kappa Sigma arranged for the member responsible for the incident to perform 50 hours of community service with the Cambridge Fire Department. At the time of the hearing, he had already served 30 hours. "I think he has learned his lesson," said Fire Chief Walter Ellis, one of three commission members.
In addition to community service, Kappa Sigma President Christopher J. Peikert said the student responsible for the incident had been expelled from the fraternity and was now living off-campus. The student was in the audience but he was not called upon to testify.
Assistant Dean Neal H. Dorow told the commissioners that the house had passed inspections for kitchen and fire safety hazards since the incident.
Earlier in the month, the commission suspended Kappa Sigma's lodging license for 30 days for an overcrowded party shut down by Campus Police last November 13 at which alcohol was served to minors. The commission ordered the suspension to coincide with next fall's rush. At that hearing, Mr. Peikert told the board that the chapter would voluntarily ban alcohol for two years and hire a full-time paid resident manager.
A version of this article appeared in MIT Tech Talk on April 5, 2000.
