The University of Central Florida
has suspended a fraternity after a powder-toss stunt by two its pledges led to an evacuation.
A fraternity at the University of Central Florida was suspended because of a LeBron Jamesthemed stunt by two pledges that led to the evacuation of a building on campus Wednesday, officials said.
According to the university, two Sigma Pi fraternity pledges entered a classroom in the Business Administration 1 building about 10:30 a.m. Wednesday. Before class began, one of the pledges, wearing a Miami Heatera LeBron James jersey, tossed white powder in the air.
As he threw the powder — which turned out to be baby formula — the pledge yelled that he was “taking his talents to South Beach,” according to a UCF student conduct report.
James, a four-time NBA MVP, sometimes throws chalk in the air as part of his pregame ritual. He also used similar language in announcing that he was leaving the Cleveland Cavaliers to join the Miami Heat in 2010.
According to the report, the powder landed on several students in the classroom. The second pledge was recording the powder toss with his phone, investigators said. Both young men fled the classroom.
“None of the students or the professor knew these individuals or what was happening,” the report said.
The building — a major classroom building at UCF, which houses the university’s accounting and finance departments, among other programs — was evacuated as police and hazmat crews investigated. Testing determined the powder wasn’t dangerous.
The evacuation lasted longer than an hour.
Neither student made contact with law enforcement to let officials know the substance was not a threat, the report said.
Both students were identified and interviewed, telling investigators they had been influenced to complete what they called the “LeBron James task” by brothers in Sigma Pi, according to the report, which described the stunt as a tradition of the fraternity.
“The pledges seemed more concerned in protecting the Sigma Pi Fraternity than being truthful about the organization’s complicity in the incident,” the report said. Investigators said the classroom was chosen because there was a Sigma Pi member enrolled in the class, which was “highly populated.”
The report scolded the fraternity’s leadership for “knowing about this foolish prank for weeks and goading these two pledges into performing the stunt.”
UCF’s Office of Student Conduct placed the fraternity on an interim suspension, prohibiting the frat from participating in fundraisers, mixers, competitions, recruitment or other events. A hearing to review the incident also was scheduled for March 15, records show.
A UCF spokeswoman said both pledges were given written arrests.
Their names were not released.
The fraternity faces several charges under UCF’s student conduct process, including providing false or misleading information, disruptive conduct and hazing, records show.