Department of Public Safety officers used pepper spray to break up a fight at a party in Alumnae Hall Saturday night, according to a campus-wide e-mail sent Monday night by Vice President for Campus Life and Student Services Margaret Klawunn.
There were at least two small fights at "Scandalous," a party hosted by the Delta Sigma Theta sorority, The Herald reported Monday. After the second altercation, a student told The Herald, "there was a kind of powder in the air" that made partygoers cough.
The student also said she saw a blood on another attendee's shirt after leaving the party.
Klawunn's e-mail confirmed that a fight erupted and that DPS responded. She also noted that pepper spray is rarely used by campus officers and that "when it is discharged, there is a full review of how and why it was used to determine if the use was consistent with departmental policies and protocols."
This investigation will be spearheaded by Director of Public Safety Mark Porter, according to the e-mail, which also mentioned the Student Activities Office and the sponsoring organization would conduct a review of the party's management plan, which is standard practice when problems break out at student events.
