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VUU sorority chapter suspended for hazing

BY MICHAEL PAUL WILLIAMS
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Apr 03, 2003

The Zeta Phi Beta Sorority chapter at Virginia Union University has been suspended after the conviction of four of its members in a hazing incident.

Convicted of misdemeanor hazing were Shyron V. Bryant, 22; Angela Denise Mitchell, 23; Rikita Renee Deans, 21; and Tamika Shanta Murrell, 23.

Charges of malicious wounding against the defendants were dismissed by General District Judge Gregory L. Rupe.

The defendants were fined $1,000 apiece, with $750 suspended, and given two years probation during a hearing in Richmond General District Court on Monday. They were also ordered to avoid contact with the victim, Kimberly Daniels.

Another 10 sorority members face two misdemeanor counts of simple assault and hazing on May 27 in Manchester General District Court.

The sorority members were charged after a Feb. 23 incident in which Daniels, a recruit, was paddled on her backside. The recruit's mother, Ruby Daniels, said she took her daughter to the emergency room after Kimberly was struck about 35 times and suffered severe bruises.

VUU's office of student affairs referred questions about the status of the defendants to the law firm of state Sen. Henry L. Marsh III.

Marsh said the defendants have 10 days to appeal. "It's not appropriate for the university to act until final action is taken in their cases. So we should know something in a few days."

Meantime, VUU and Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Inc. have suspended the campus chapter.

Zeta Phi Beta, a historically black sorority, was founded in 1920 at Howard University in Washington. Its motto is "scholarship, service, sisterly love and finer womanhood."

The international president of Zeta Phi Beta said in a statement from the organization's Washington headquarters that the sorority is "disappointed" that members of the VUU chapter have been accused of breaking the sorority's prohibition against hazing.

"Hazing has no place in the sorority's membership intake process," Barbara C. Moore said. She added that the sorority "will cooperate with all university and civil authorities in the investigation.

"All activities of this chapter have been suspended until the matter has been resolved," Moore said.

Kimberly Daniels, a junior from Emporia, is a transfer student from Virginia Tech.

"She fell in love with Zeta Phi Beta when she was at Virginia Tech . . . but her grades were not up to par," her mother said.

Her mother said Kimberly remains enrolled at VUU. "She's thinking of transferring next year. We're just trying to make it out of this year."

As for Zeta Phi Beta, "She doesn't want to be in the sorority anymore," her mother said.

Contact Michael Paul Williams at (804) 649-6815 or mwilliams@timesdispatch.com