Hal Fox
Clad in navy blazers, khaki pants, red polo shirts and brown leather loafers, fraternity pledges traded punches as the Rebels and Wildcats traded touchdowns in a close 22-19 win for Ole Miss in the football game against the University of Kentucky on Sat., Oct. 1.
Two groups of pledges from currently unidentified fraternities at the University of Mississippi started a brawl in the upper portion of section N3 of the student stands in Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.
Ole Miss Rebels offensive lineman and senior multidisciplinary studies major Mason Brooks recounted what he saw occurring in the stands from the field on The Mason Brooks Show.
“Hey man, they’re fighting up there. And I was like, ‘What?’ And someone else was like, ‘Man, they’re really throwing up there!’ And I look up, and there’s just a brawl,” Brooks said. “Some guy in a red shirt was throwing a couple of punches, and then this guy comes in and just schlepped him, just a right hook right in the chin.”
Earlier in the week, Rebels head coach Lane Kiffin had urged fans to attend the game after a poor showing in the stands during the first three home contests.
“The energy of the stadium clearly shifted up into the base, we got it cranked on the field. It was a rowdy day,” Brooks said.
Other members of the university community did not find the Greek grappling as entertaining.
Jacob Batte, director of news and media relations for the University of Mississippi, said the university is investigating the incident.
“The University of Mississippi expects anyone who attends our athletics events to treat fellow spectators with respect and decorum, and we will not tolerate that kind of behavior,” Batte said. “Any students or registered student organizations found to be involved in the incident will be subject to disciplinary sanctions under our Code of Student Conduct.”
Video of the fight originated in a Twitter post from Old Row Sports. The video was retweeted by Barstool Sports and has since garnered more than 10 million views. Several fraternities have been accused of participating in the brawl.
The Barstool Twitter post accuses the University of Mississippi Sigma Chi and Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternities of participating in the fight, while a Barstool Sports article reports the fight occurring between the SAE and Alpha Tau Omega fraternities. In total, Barstool Sports has accused three fraternities. All of these fraternities deny involvement.
“Unfortunately, the video posted by Barstool contains a few mistakes. Our pledge class was not involved in the fracas, nor was any member of our active chapter,” Edward Francis, president of the Sigma Chi Fraternity, said.
As the Eta Chapter of the Sigma Chi Fraternity explained in an email to their nationals, which was shared with The Daily Mississippian, the Sigma Chi pledge class is not required to wear a coat and tie to football games and was sitting in section N10 of the stadium at the game. They also confirm that all persons in the video not wearing a coat and tie are not members of the Sigma Chi Fraternity.
“Sigma Alpha Epsilon is aware of a social media post alleging our chapter at the University of Mississippi was involved in a fight during last weekend’s football game,” Preston Oden, president of the Mississippi Gamma Chapter of SAE, said. “After investigating the matter with our student leaders and alumni volunteers, we are confident that the incident did not involve our chapter or any of our members. We have communicated this to university administration and requested a retraction regarding the false accusations.”
SAE and Sigma Chi are listed as the two largest fraternities in the country, according to Campus Explorer, with 304,000 and 300,000 members respectively. ATO is also listed as the ninth largest fraternity in the country, with 181,000 members.
“Alpha Tau Omega was not involved in any altercation at the football game,” said Cody Wilson, president of the Delta Psi Chapter of ATO.
When asked whether ATO had a statement on Barstool Sports misreporting the fraternity’s involvement, Wilson declined to comment.
The Beta Beta Chapter of the Beta Theta Pi Fraternity also denied involvement in the incident.
“The incident did not involve any members of Beta Theta Pi,” William Bounds, the president of Beta Theta Pi, said.
The Epsilon Xi Chapter of Sigma Nu denounced the pledge brawl and declined further comment.
“Sigma Nu, including its leadership and membership body, does not condone or encourage fighting of any form. Additionally, Sigma Nu does not recognize or comment on campus rumors,” Stewart McCullough, the president of Sigma Nu, said.
McCullough directed The Daily Mississippian to pose further questions to the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life and the Office of Conflict Resolution and Student Conduct.
The Office of Conflict Resolution and Student Conduct declined to comment, and the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life failed to respond to an email request for information and statement from The Daily Mississippian.
