UNC to investigate possible violations at DKE house

Chancellor Holden Thorp has asked staff to investigate whether any university or fraternity policies were violated at a party the night Delta Kappa Epsilon President Courtland Benjamin Smith was shot by Archdale police in Randolph County.

According to a post on Thorp’s blog, Chapel Hill police contacted the university Aug. 23, the day after the party. Jenny Levering from the university’s Greek Affairs office accompanied the police to the DKE house.

“It was obvious that there had been a party there, with alcohol,” Thorp wrote. “I know that doesn’t necessarily sound unusual. But in light of the tragedy, we felt that we needed to try to determine whether any University or fraternity policies were violated. So I asked Student Affairs to look into this.

Thorp met with a DKE alumnus, a DKE parent and a student of the fraternity over the next two days. “Like us, they were concerned about Courtland’s tragic death and worried about how it would affect the other fraternity members and Courtland’s friends,” he wrote. “They were also concerned about the party — maybe being out of hand.”

They asked the university to help DKE set up a substance abuse education program, which Thorp said staff will begin working on this week.

The State Bureau of Investigation is reviewing Smith’s death. On Wednesday, it issued a court order for the fraternity president’s e-mails, which UNC-CH’s Department of Public Safety provided, Thorp wrote.

Smith, 21, was shot by an Archdale police officer after being stopped on Interstate 85 just before 5 a.m. Aug. 23. Smith had dialed 911 as he drove west at a high speed. He told a dispatcher that he was trying to kill himself, that he had been drinking and that he had a 9mm handgun. Authorities still haven't said publicly whether he had a gun.

At least one of the two police cars on the scene was
equipped with a dashboard video camera. A Randolph County
assistant district attorney had a judge seal the recording Aug. 25.

Five media organizations including The News & Observer
are going to court to get a police video recording of the traffic stop in which Smith was shot. The organizations also are asking for an unedited version of the student's 911 call.

 “When I attended the service for Courtland on Wednesday, I was struck by the strong friendships and staggering sense of loss,” Thorp wrote on his blog. “Afterward, several parents came up to me and asked me not to let this teachable moment pass. We still don’t know why Courtland died. But we can’t let his tragic death pass without learning from it.”