An unidentified assailant stabbed junior Giovanni Urquilla in the basement of a residence belonging to Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity (PIKE) in the first hours of Jan. 19 and the final hours of a fraternity party. The aftermath of the party did not yield answers, and confusion as to the identity and motive of the aggravated assault persists.
“We’re saddened and dumbfounded by the incident and the fact that it happened to a Hopkins student and member of the fraternity,” President of PIKE Luke Jenusaitis said.
A student who attended the gathering, who wished to remain anonymous, described the end of the night as “chaos as brothers told everyone to leave the house and get out of the basement, which was covered with pools of blood.”
Despite the many fraternity brothers and guests present, no one can confirm the identity of the assailant.
“We do not know who stabbed Giovanni, but our organization has been working tirelessly with the University and the Baltimore Police to work to nab this guy,” Jenusaitis said.
Jenusaitis could not comment on whether or not Urquilla knows the identity of the individual who assaulted him, and Urquilla could not be reached to comment.
A myriad of questions arose about how the assailant was able to enter the residence that night. When asked if the organization was checking J-Cards the night of the incident, as is common practice to mitigate conflict, Jenusaitis declined to comment. He stated that the function was not an official fraternity party, and the fraternity was not required to follow protocol for social events.
According to the Hopkins Inter-Fraternity Council Bylaws, all open parties or social events that fraternities at Hopkins host must “have two additional monitors to work outside the party to promote the orderly passage of guests to and from the party.” Additionally, according to Fraternal Information & Programming Group, Inc. (FIPG), “open parties, meaning those with unrestricted access by non-members of the fraternity, without specific invitation, where alcohol is present, are prohibited.”
“The way we conduct our events is in accordance with University policy, and because the house is residential, we have extra policies to maintain our safety and the safety of those entering,” Jenusaitis said.
Jenustaitis stated that the national division of Pi Kappa Alpha and the University have been very supportive. He also said that the incident will have no impact on the existence of the fraternity on campus.
“[The stabbing] is not affecting the charter to my knowledge,” he said.
Rachel Drennen, the greek life and orientation coordinator, has also reinforced the importance of safety through a risk management policy review amongst fraternities.
Other fraternities have reaffirmed their commitment to ensuring the security of both their brothers and guests at events going forward.
“We don’t have open parties; we want to know who is let in for the comfort of the brothers and people who come, so we will keep doing that obviously,” Evan Tassis, president of Phi Gamma Delta (FIJI) said.
The Office of Student Life has begun its own review of the incident, and the Baltimore police and campus officers are conducting an ongoing investigation.
“It’s really frustrating that this happened in PIKE. PIKE is one of the more inclusive fraternities, and it’s too bad that somebody abused that,” freshman Chaconne Martin-Berkowicz said.
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