ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, February 27, 1997 TAG: 9702270065
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: S.D. HARRINGTON STAFF WRITER
FOURTEEN STUDENTS AND ALUMNI of Roanoke College face an April 23 trial date in relation to a "bonding" ritual for an unofficial campus organization.
Roanoke College alumnus Rob Clark remembers his mid-1980s "bonding experience" with Campus Inter-Action, a sort of informal fraternity of Roanoke College students.
It was essentially an initiation into the group, he said. Those being initiated were blindfolded and taken to a remote location. Senior members led them through a sort of obstacle course.
It wasn't unusual for members to drink before the ritual, he said. But he said he doesn't recall being really drunk during his own initiation.
"It usually involved mud - making you crawl through it," said Clark, a 1990 Roanoke College graduate who still lives in the area. "I just remember when it was all over, we were covered from head to toe."
"I know this is going to sound unimaginative, but it was a sort of bonding," he said. "I don't remember being forced to do anything I didn't want to do."
He said it wasn't hazing, and he doesn't recall anyone's life being in danger.
But Roanoke County police Tuesday charged 14 Roanoke College students and four former students with hazing and other offenses after stumbling onto what they described as a potentially dangerous ritual involving members of Campus Inter-Action - commonly referred to as CIA.
Shortly before 1 a.m., police responded to a disturbance complaint on Timberview Road, a dead end near Carvins Cove. They found a rental truck loaded with a couch, chair and beer containers. Officers heard people in the woods and followed a trail of litter and the smell of beer, Roanoke County Lt. Gary Roche said.
Police said they saw some men holding four blindfolded men face down in 4 to 6 inches of creek water. Others were watching from a bank, shining flashlights and yelling.
Several in the group told police their ritual was "a bonding experience and that they were in a period of trust building," Roche said.
Police charged 10 of the men with hazing, a Class 1 misdemeanor, punishable by up to 12 months in jail and/or a $2,500 fine. They charged four with being drunk in public, and 13 with trespassing.
The students and former students, including three members of the lacrosse team, were arraigned Wednesday in Roanoke County General District Court. Trial was set for April 23.
Several suspects declined to comment at the hearing.
The college is conducting its own investigation, looking for violations in the student code of conduct. Punishments for violating the code range from suspension to expulsion.
Though Campus Inter-Action isn't an official fraternity - with no funding or sponsorship from the college - it has been around for years, said one college official who would talk only if he were not identified.
The group started in the early 1980s after an official fraternity, Kappa Alpha Order, had its charter revoked by the school. Several members of the defunct frat started their own social group. After about a year, they named it Campus Inter-Action, the college official said.
Kappa Alpha's charter has been reinstated, and it is again an official fraternity. CIA has continued to attract new members but is not related to the fraternity.
For a short stint, the group was a recognized social club, said Teresa Gereaux, spokeswoman for the college. But that eventually fizzled, and the group went back to being an unofficial fraternity.
"It was really an interesting mixture of lacrosse players and Dead Heads," Rob Clark said. And a lot of the members were "disillusioned with what fraternities on campus had to offer."
Clark said the group's traditions may be different from when he was there. He joined during his freshman year in 1985-86.
"I don't know what it's like now," he said.
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