Four fraternity
members at the University of Vermont in Burlington were
slapped with $1,000 fines for allegedly making pledges wear
Brokeback Mountain-style cowboy clothes
while enduring homophobic slurs, the Associated Press
reported Wednesday.
The penalties,
part of Vermon't anti-hazing law, stem from a March 2
Brokeback Mountain party at the Phi Gamma
Delta house where potential fraternity members endured
homophobic-tinged hazing.
The fines were
ordered by the university after the Chittenden County
state's attorney's office decided the matter did not warrant
criminal charges.
"I feel that the
case would be better dealt with in context of a
university judicial review," said deputy state's attorney Ed
Sutton. "It was clear there were actions that could be
offensive to some people, but there was no intention
by anyone to be hurtful."
The four men who
were fined--Scoutt Curley II, Eric Freedman, Bill
Holohan IV, and Geoffrey Robinson--were singled
out because they are officers of Phi Gamma Delta.
(The Advocate)