Further information on that event was unavailable. Two licensing board members yesterday said they did not deem suspension necessary for Beta Theta Pi because summer boarders held the party, which fraternity members said they neither condoned nor joined. Chairwoman Ellen Rooney and member Daniel Pokaski said they were heartened by the MIT dean's expression of outrage and the acknowledgement by fraternity members that they lost control of the house. At the house yesterday, which has one of the few Bay State Road doorways not emblazoned with BU crimson, Beta Theta Pi members stood outside in cutoffs. Robert Smith, BU vice counsel, who had urged the board to take away the fraternity's license, stood on the sidewalk glaring at fraternity members.
Members say their house already was supposed to be alcohol-free when the party occurred last month.
But they feel MIT's approach, which favors education and accountability over expulsion, will be more effective in the long run. Criminal charges of assault with a dangerous weapon are pending against a fraternity member, James P. Williams, 21. But MIT and the fraternity contend that the culprits did not attend the school or belong to Beta Theta Pi. Mulligan said he still favors suspending or revoking Beta Theta Pi's license.