Update 4/24/15 12:45 p.m.: Emory's ZBT chapter has "suspended all activities" and is cooperating with the national chapter's investigation into the incident, according to an April 23 statement from the fraternity's national chapter.
Update 4/28/15 10:18 p.m.: Veterans are organizing a protest against the University's Zeta Beta Tau house to take place Tuesday, May 5.
Two Zeta Beta Tau (ZBT) chapters, from Emory University and University of Florida (UF), were accused of disrespecting a group of U.S. veterans in Panama City Beach last week. Emory and its ZBT chapter have not found any evidence that Emory students were involved in the incident.
The veterans and the brothers of both ZBT chapters were staying at the hotel Laketown Wharf on Panama City Beach, where the brothers were having their spring formal trip.
“The students were antagonizing warriors, throwing marshmallows on the vehicles, pulling American flags off the vehicles and even urinating on the American flags,” Linda Cope, the founder of the group for veterans called Warrior Beach Retreat, told local reporters. She added that some of the students made inappropriate comments to the spouses of the heroes. Cope also alleged that the students spit on and poured beer on one veteran and his service dog.
UF suspended its ZBT chapter, and Emory University administrators from the Division of Campus Life are investigating the claim that Emory students were involved in the incident. Emory has not found evidence for its own student involvement thus far, according to an April 23 University press release.
That statement added that Emory was “appalled to learn of acts of disrespect and harassment that were directed at attendees of the Warrior Beach Retreat in Florida this past weekend.”
Emory's ZBT chapter also said there was no evidence thus far that its members were involved.
“The reported incidents are deplorable. No one — least of all our veterans — should be subjected to such egregious behavior,” the statement said. “If information implicating any member of our organization arises, we will hold those individuals fully accountable.”
Cope said in an interview with the Wheel that she would have liked if Emory’s ZBT chapter would have issued an apology recognizing that they had members at the event and “maybe they did, maybe they didn’t participate, but I’d rather err on the side of caution.”
Cope said that they found out the brothers were the ones who committed these acts because “we were told those were the two groups that were there.” She said it was obvious, because they left in buses. However, Cope said that she never intended to go to the media with the story, but the media caught wind of the story due to a Facebook status of one of the veterans on the retreat.
A member of Emory’s ZBT chapter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, because he did not want his name associated with the allegations, said the fraternity has “been working hand in hand with the University and the national organization to make sure everything they brought forward is addressed, and if someone is at fault, that they receive the necessary consequences.”
The fraternity member also said that, while he had spent the weekend at Panama City Beach with other members, he did not witness the acts that Cope accused the brothers of committing.
“We were shocked on multiple levels by these alleged incidents,” the ZBT member said.
Both UF President W. Kent Fuchs and UF ZBT President Tyler Drescher issued apologies to veterans on the Warrior Beach Retreat. The fraternity wrote that it has a “zero tolerance policy for such behaviors” and said that “those found guilty will be expelled [from the fraternity].”
According to a statement released by Laurence Bolotin the Executive Director of Zeta Beta Tau International, three members were expelled from the UF chapter who were found to have engaged in inappropriate behavior during the incident. Additionally, UF has launched an independent investigation of its ZBT chapter, which has since been suspended.
Editor's Note: Editor-in-Chief Dustin Slade is a member of ZBT and did not play a role in the reporting of this article.
Associate Editor Ryan Smith and News Editor Lydia O'Neal contributed reporting to this article.
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