Sorority busted for underage drinking party

A copy of the warrant obtained by The Voice revealed that the Bloomsburg Police Department had been investigating the Theta Tau sorority for approximately one month before this raid occurred. The officer states in the affidavit of probable cause: “Many of these youthful looking persons were observed to be holding open containers of beer in cans, bottles and cups.” The affidavit also acknowledges an increase in the amount of trash to be disposed, such as beer bottles and cans, as well as plastic cups. Many citations and arrests happened in the immediate vicinity of the residence, which lead to more surveillance around the sorority house in the days and hours prior to the raid.

Items that police sought during the operation included: kegs, beer taps, bars, posters, bar equipment, fake IDs, police tuned scanners and lists of those attending the event. Items that were discovered and inventoried by officers included: One empty and one tapped beer keg; four trays of Jell-o shots; one duty roster and $319 in cash. After searching more of the house, they also found “a plastic baggie with green vegetable matter” and a “Liberty Dollar Grinder with green vegetable matter.”

The Theta Tau sorority was busted just four days prior to the one-year anniversary of Delta Pi’s headline-making bust last year.  This campaign by the Bloomsburg police and other law enforcement agencies makes it apparent that underage drinking will not be taken lightly. 

“If you look back over the years, there is probably a trend early in the semester [of parties getting busted],” said Bloomsburg Mayor Dan Knorr.  “If the police don’t come out early, things could get out of hand.  This prevents things from getting to a level of a free-for-all.”  

The latest bust leaves the fate of yet another member of the Greek community up in the air, assuming Theta Tau is subject to the same procedures that Delta Pi faced. Many alumni have written words of support on the Theta Tau Omega Members & Alumni’s group page on Facebook. Along with well wishes, alumni have promised support in legal channels and fundraisers. Several additional Facebook groups have been added in support of the Theta Tau sisters.

This raid and further campaigns against underage drinking is partially funded by a $12,000 grant that Bloomsburg received from the PA State Liquor Control Board. Mayor Knorr explained that with or without this grant, Bloomsburg is required to enforce the underage drinking laws. If Bloomsburg had denied the grant money, the underage drinking enforcement costs would have come from the town’s budget rather than from a state grant.

Despite the town’s campaign to eliminate underage drinking, Knorr is realistic regarding the success that Bloomsburg police will have in completely removing the problem from the Bloomsburg community. 

­­ Still, he insists that the police will not view sorority and fraternity houses as potential targets based solely on their association with Greek Life. 

“They [the police] don’t need to see letters to know where a party is going on. They know where parties tend to happen, Greek or not.”

Still, Gwen Wiscount, a former member of the Alpha Sigma Tau sorority, has concerns.

“I feel that the police view Greeks differently from the rest of the student body.  I think police see the letters on the houses and immediately associate us with large parties that involve drinking.  What they don’t know is that those letters also represent community service hours divided between not just the university, but the town as well.”

Knorr stressed that he does believe that the university’s Greek community brings a lot of good things to the school and says of the Theta Tau incident “We enforced it, and now we’ll move on.”