Misunderstanding at ZBT leads to physical altercation

By: Michelle Anstett
Editor-in-chief

The large hole in the wall at the fraternity complex is one of the many reminders witnesses will have of a violent altercation which took place at approximately 11:30 p.m. on Saturday night, Feb. 3. This altercation, precipitated by what a source called a “misinterpretation as hostility,” directly involved two Monmouth College students and an out-of-town friend of another student, as well as indirectly involving several other Monmouth College students.

This fight began when one male Monmouth College sophomore approached a Monmouth College senior, attempting to greet him. However, the senior’s out-of-town friend took the gesture of greeting as hostility, and then got into the sophomore’s face. Next, the friend head-butted the sophomore, escalating the violence between the two.

As a result, a large group of the sophomore’s friends held him back in an effort to stop the fight, and they soon removed the sophomore from the party room of the fraternity complex, where Zeta Beta Tau fraternity was holding a party. Prior to the sophomore’s removal, however, the friend continued to physically attack the sophomore, increasing his anger at the friend.

Sometime after the sophomore was removed from the altercation, the source believes as he was leaving the building, the sophomore put his head through a wall of the fraternity complex, creating a rather large hole.

The senior’s out-of-town friend also left the building, accompanied by a few others. There was no immediate action taken as a result of this incident.

However, once one of the sophomore’s friends discovered there was no action taken, “he decided he needed to take action,” the source explained. This “action” took the form of threatening the person who had harassed his friend, and was subsequently held back by a group of people, “including myself.”

The men of Zeta Beta Tau who were in charge of the party immediately evacuated the party room, unsure of how to proceed.

At some point, the source did not know when or for what reason, another male Monmouth College student was stabbed with a piece of broken bottle. However, the source believes this stabbing was the result of the student’s attempts to hold back the out-of-town friend, resulting in a further violent outburst.

While it is unknown whether there was any disciplinary action taken against any of those involved, a second source who was sitting in Liedman Hall said security “chased one of the men involved around Liedman.”

Although no one was seriously injured and the fraternity complex returned to many of its usual weekend activities shortly after this incident occurred, this altercation was a chilling reminder of how misinterpretations can lead to terrible consequences.