A group of about 100 State students erupted in violence during a fraternity- and sorority-sponsored dance inside the HUB on Friday night, causing authorities to evacuate and temporarily shut down the building.
There were no reported injuries or arrests, but HUB-Robeson Center Facilities Manager Magdy Taha said about $3,000 worth of damage was done to chairs and other building items.
The fight began at about 11:45 p.m. inside Heritage Hall during a back-to-school dance held by the National Panhellenic Council (NPHC), Taha said. About 500 people, including members of NPHC fraternities and sororities, attended the event.
"A couple of people ruined it for hundreds of people," said NPHC President Cordero Thompson. "I'm going back to the drawing board to see what we can do to eliminate some of these problems."
Officers responded after about
100 students began pushing and shoving each other, Taha said. Another fight broke out in the lobby a few minutes later, he said.
Police and Taha said they do not know the cause of the fight.
"Everyone was in a rare mood," said Peggy Diaz, the evening weekend supervisor for the HUB building.
Taha said he decided the event was too unsafe to continue, so he told the DJ to stop playing music and turned on the lights.
"It was too dangerous to have people in the building," Taha said.
Adaia White, who attended Friday's event, said police directed the crowd to the front doors.
"I was very scared -- I just wanted to leave," said White (junior-crime law and justice), who is not in a sorority.
Outside the HUB, rain poured and White said the screaming continued as some students yelled they wanted their money back. White said students paid $5 to attend the dance.
Now student leaders, administrators and police are scheduling to meet as soon as possible to discuss what police called the first major incident in the HUB since October 2007.
Former Penn State football players Chris Baker and Phillip Taylor and current Penn State linebacker Navorro Bowman were put on probation in connection with an Oct. 7 fight that occurred in the HUB after an event sponsored by Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., a NPHC fraternity.
"This was worse than that," Taha said. "There were so many more people."
Thompson (senior-accounting) said police did "a great job" handling Friday's incident and expressed disappointment at what happened. He said it was one of his objectives to improve the reputation of the NPHC following the 2007 HUB fight.
"It was one of my goals to turn it around," Thompson said. "We were pretty successful until [Friday] night."
Penn State Police reported that a student caused $2,400 worth of damage to two trash receptacles at about 12:17 a.m., but police said they are "unsure" if it was connected with the fights.
