ITHACA, N.Y. -- Henrik N. Dullea, vice president for university relations at Cornell University, today (April 3, 2002) issued a statement concerning the university's review of events involving the arrest of a student by Cornell Police at Lambda Upsilon Lambda fraternity, at 3:30 a.m. on January 27, 2002.

"Early in the morning of January 27, 2002, Cornell Police arrested a student and member of the Lambda Upsilon Lambda fraternity, at the fraternity's premises, 722 University Avenue, Ithaca, N.Y. The student was charged with two counts of harassment in the second degree, a violation, and one count of obstructing government administration, a misdemeanor. Cornell Police used pepper spray to subdue the student while making the arrest, and questions were subsequently raised by members of the Cornell community concerning the appropriateness of that particular use of force. The university announced that the incident would be reviewed by senior members of the administration -- Harold D. Craft, Jr., vice president for administration and chief financial officer; Susan H. Murphy, vice president for student and academic services; Suzy Nelson, assistant dean of students for fraternity and sorority affairs; and William G. Boice, director of the Cornell Police.

"The charges filed against the student have now been disposed of in the Ithaca City Court. The court adjourned the matter "in contemplation of dismissal" on March 15, 2002, indicating that the charges against the student will be dropped if no other charges are filed against him during the next six months. As part of the disposition of the case, the student wrote a letter to the Cornell Police acknowledging the legitimacy of the request by the police to enter the university-owned fraternity on the night in question. No other criminal charges are pending. The university chose not to release the results of its own review of this incident until this time in order to avoid any impact on the charges that were pending in City Court.

"The review of the incident undertaken by the senior members of the administration was concluded on March 5, 2002. The Cornell Police director commissioned an internal review of the incident. The internal review included the examination of the reports filed by the arresting officers, conversations with witnesses to the event and other members of the campus community, and the assessment of the applicable Cornell University Use of Force Policy.

"The senior members of the administration examined the internal review and concluded that the members of the Cornell Police acted appropriately on the night in question and that their actions were neither discriminatory nor disproportionate under the circumstances. The property was and is a university-owned building; the police received a noise complaint and witnessed significant noise coming from the premises; and, after arriving at the fraternity, the officers had a reasonable basis for believing that underage drinking and other violations of the law and of the University's Code of Conduct were occurring. The police used pepper spray only after the student obstructed their entrance to the fraternity and a scuffle ensued. While the use of pepper spray is an extremely infrequent event at Cornell, its use in this particular circumstance was regrettably appropriate

"Subsequent discussions between the Cornell Police and student leaders of the campus fraternities and sororities to review the policies and procedures involving police access to these residences have led to increased awareness of the role of the police in law enforcement activities on campus."

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