Six members of the Zeta Tau Alpha Sorority have admitted to causing damage on Jan. 25 to the Chi Omega lodge . An alumni director for Chi Omega has said that she did not wish to press criminal charges, but chose to have the matter handled through Student Affairs.

According to UTM Public Safety, Zeta President Michelle Johnson arrived at the Office of Public Safety with the women who were involved in the incident. The members involved were Rachael Copeland, Tari Swann, Lisa Powell, Leslie Bailey, Allison Hopper and M. Ashlae Abraham.

A report filed on the night of the incident states that Public Safety was dispatched to C-5 Grove Apartments in reference to some missing letters from the Chi Omega lodge. Upon arrival, the responding officer made contact with a witness who said that about 12:20 a.m., she heard noises from outside her apartment and noticed four white females removing the letters "M", "E" and "G" from the outside of the lodge.

According to the witness, the females then sprayed shaving cream on the outside walls of the Chi Omega lodge and went downstairs and attempted to enter the Zeta lodge. The four females then left in a regular cab, full-size black Dodge pickup with a toolbox in the bed. The truck was said to have had a UTM sticker.

The Zetas involved in the incident will not face criminal charges, only the decision of punishment through Student Affairs that is at the discretion of student conduct officer Vishenia Huery. This comes after alumni board member for Chi Omega, Lori McDonald, contacted Director of Public Safety Rick Hatler and asked that criminal charges be dropped. The Pacer has confirmed rumors that the members who turned themselves in have been told via letter by Huery that they are not allowed to participate in the upcoming Greek Steppin' Show.

Members involved in the incident, who wished to not go on record, have said that they wanted to participate in Steppin' and wanted to have the decision issued by Huery changed. The matters were even brought to the attention of the judicial system of SGA.

Huery was not available for comment in the matter as she was out of town on personal leave. Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs Katie High said that all students who are not happy with a decision made by Huery have to appeal the decision in writing within five days of the decision being issued.

"Students can appeal the action taken by the student conduct office within five days. Then they will be told their options. Other bodies can hear their case such as student court, University Council or an administrative procedures act hearing," High said.

As for why the sorority members involved were told that they could not participate in Steppin' before actually having a hearing with Huery is something that High would not refer to specifically, but said that the office will sometimes follow a precedent of placing students into a stage that she referred to as "suspended animation." This "suspended animation" was described by High as telling students to "hold still a minute until we've got time to deal with the situation." This would include restricting the activities in which students are able to participate.

The members of Zeta who admitted their involvement did so after waiving their Miranda rights. The initial police report shows the monetary loss at $150, which would be classified as a misdemeanor.