Next week, MIT's Sigma Alpha Epsilon (SAE) fraternity chapter will appear before the Boston Licensing Board to answer charges that an underage Wellesley College first-year was served alcohol there last month.
This is the third time that an MIT fraternity has appeared before the board in two years. The first of these incidents, the 1997 death of fraternity pledge Scott Krueger after a night of drinking, thrust MIT's drinking policy into the national spotlight.
The Oct. 28 hearing will center on an informal party held Sept. 2 at the SAE house. After leaving the party, the Wellesley student was taken to the Metro West Medical Center in Natick when she showed symptoms of alcohol poisoning.
MIT spokesperson Robert Sales said the recent incident was not part of any larger problems with alcohol at MIT.
"These things happen, but it's certainly not a trend. We do whatever we can to educate our students about alcohol awareness," he said.
The Licensing Board closed MIT's Phi Gamma Delta fraternity in September 1997 after the death of Krueger, an 18-year-old first-year who died after drinking at a fraternity party.
Last year, the Licensing Board placed the Theta Chi fraternity on probation for seven months after a Boston University first-year suffered alcohol poisoning while drinking in a brother's room.
If the board finds that SAE violated one of its licensing agreements-- which explicitly prohibit the consumption of alcohol by underage students--there can be a wide range of repercussions.
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