Members of WCU fraternity under probe for alleged assault

CULLOWHEE – Members of a Western Carolina University fraternity chapter that was suspended last month amid hazing allegations are under investigation for an alleged assault that injured a WCU student.

The assault, which is not connected to the hazing case, was reported during an April 18 party at an off-campus apartment complex, only a few days before the university suspended the Zeta Xi chapter of Pi Kappa Alpha.

Bob Denson, the father of the student who was injured, said his son was beaten by four members of the fraternity and had to be treated for a broken nose, severe concussion, a spinal injury and bruises all over his body.

Only one person has been arrested in the case on a misdemeanor assault charge.

"I just want proper justice to be done, to make sure the people involved in assaulting my son are held accountable," Denson said.

WCU spokesman Bill Studenc said the alleged assault was not connected to the five-year suspension of the fraternity.

"The suspension came after a campus investigation into allegations of hazing and after the completion of appropriate disciplinary procedures," Studenc said.

The hazing investigation began after a pledge said he was "water boarded" in a February incident.

The university has launched a separate investigation into the alleged assault, Studenc said.

"Officials are investigating any potential violations of the Code of Student Conduct, and that university-level investigation is still ongoing," Studenc said. "If individuals are found through that disciplinary process to have violated university policies, federal law governing the privacy of educational records prohibits the university from disclosing those results."

The Jackson County Sheriff's Office also is investigating the alleged assault. The Sheriff's Office is involved because the incident took place off campus.

Sheriff's Office Maj. Shannon Queen said he could not discuss details of the investigation because it's still underway. One fraternity member has been charged in the case, 20-year-old Walter Pierce Conger. He's charged with assault inflicting serious injury, a misdemeanor, and faces a May 27 court date in Jackson County District Court.

According to Denson, his son, a 19-year-old freshman who was not a pledge, went to the party to pick up a friend, who had texted him asking for a ride home. As he was trying to squeeze through a group of people, he bumped into Conger, causing him to spill his beer.

"He turned around to apologize and just got cold-cocked," Denson said.

He said four people then began pummeling his son.

Denson said his son missed the rest of the semester and final exams, though the university granted him an extension to complete his work.

"These guys were still out partying and finishing up the semester," Denson said. "My son was home in bed. How am I supposed to feel good about this?"

Denson, who lives in Waxhaw, near Charlotte, said his son would not return to WCU in the fall and would instead attend college in the Charlotte area.

A call to the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity went unanswered. Officials with the group's national office in Memphis, Tennessee, also could not be reached.