Cal Poly frat leader: Delta Chi not ‘affiliated’ with reported sex assault

The president of the Delta Chi fraternity at Cal Poly said his chapter is in “no way affiliated” with an alleged sexual assault — an act that he called “heinous” — that occurred March 31 at a house where a few fraternity members live.

Steven Pollock, president of Cal Poly’s Delta Chi fraternity chapter of 110 members, added, however, that he was not denying the assault occurred at the off-campus residence.

The alleged sexual assault took place around midnight at a residence at 139 Longview Lane, according to San Luis Obispo Police Department Capt. Chris Staley. The department is investigating the case.

A woman reported being sexually assaulted by an unknown male at a party where she was forced to drink alcohol against her will, according to a notification alert released by Cal Poly on Monday after the woman reported the incident to police Sunday.

In two separate emails sent to The Tribune, Pollock wrote, “Delta Chi is in no way affiliated with this heinous act.” He added, “I am not denying that a sexual assault happened at a house on Longview Lane.”

Pollock referred all other questions to Delta Chi’s Executive Director Justin Sherman at the fraternity’s international headquarters in Iowa City, Iowa.

“The Delta Chi International Headquarters has been made aware of an alleged sexual assault occurring with our chapter at Cal Poly State University at an off-campus location,” Sherman said in a statement. “At this time, we do not have any additional information to provide due to privacy of the victim. Delta Chi believes very strongly in providing a quality experience for both our members and guests — we do not support nor condone any act of sexual violence.”

Pollock told the Mustang News earlier this week that he doesn’t consider the event or the residence to be affiliated with Delta Chi. Mustang News is Cal Poly’s student-run news organization.

“(Pollock) said that three out of the seven roommates at the residence are Delta Chi members and the other four are not affiliated with Greek life,” the Mustang News article stated. “Last quarter, the fraternity held one recruitment event at the house that was registered with the school, according to Pollock. Beyond that, Pollock does not consider the house to be affiliated with Delta Chi.”

However, Cal Poly’s alert notification of the incident stated the chapter house is a “Delta Chi fraternity-affiliated residence.”

Pollock said the fraternity was cooperating with the investigation, according to the Mustang News article.

Cal Poly has suspended Delta Chi’s chapter pending administrative reviews of the March 31 incident and a reported attempted sexual assault March 6 at the fraternity’s chapter house at 1236 Monte Vista Place. The university’s office of the Dean of Students is conducting the examinations of those alleged incidents.

The first incident allegedly involved an unidentified man attacking a woman by holding her down with the intention to sexually assault her, according to an alert issued by Cal Poly. The survivor fought off her attacker and fled, the alert said.

The woman chose not to speak with police nor to report the incident to authorities; the incident did not result in a criminal investigation, according to Cal Poly spokesman Matt Lazier.

The university is required to issue notices under federal Clery Act regulations, which mandate that universities and colleges release information about certain crimes.

Crime alerts are sent to the campus in a mass email and to students signed up with the Poly Alert text-message system, according to the university’s website. Information about a suspect is included only if there is enough information to describe the individual, the website states.

At the request of The Tribune, Cal Poly officials said they were gathering data on reported sexual assaults and attempted sexual assaults on or around campus this school year, but those numbers were not available Wednesday.

Staley said the San Luis Obispo Police Department had no new information to release about the March 31 case Wednesday, including any identification of a suspect, but he said the department is continuing its investigation.

This story was originally published April 6, 2016 at 6:19 PM with the headline "Cal Poly frat leader: Delta Chi not ‘affiliated’ with reported sex assault."