Department of Public Safety officers report that they used chemical spray to stop a fight that started in the Michigan Union early Saturday morning after a fraternity dance.
"At approximately 12:45 (a.m.) Saturday a fight occurred at an (Omega Psi Phi) fraternity dance in the Union," said DPS spokesperson Elizabeth Hall. "The fight escalated and U of M Department of Public Safety officers intervened, taking necessary action to insure the safety of the 600 people attending the event."
Gerald Olivari, who is president of Omega Psi Phi fraternity, said the fight occurred while members of the fraternity were preparing for a "step show."
"On the side, football players were ... making fun of what we were doing and making noise," Olivari said. "They were causing a distraction and one of our fraternity brothers asked them to stop. They started getting hostile to us and calling us names."
"It turned into a brawl. DPS came and they sprayed mace."
A first-year student who attended the dance and did not want to be identified saw the fight begin.
"Some of the members of the fraternity were talking to some of the members of the football team. They exchanged words and then the fighting started," the student alleged. "I don't know who took the first blow. Everybody was trying to pull everybody else off of each other."
DPS requested assistance from Ann Arbor Police Department officers in dispersing the crowd that had gathered on the steps of the Union after the dance ended, Hall said.
"No injuries were reported and no arrests were made," Hall said, adding that the fight had started in the Union and not outside the building.
"Department of Public Safety officers called for assistance from Ann Arbor Police Department when the crowd spilled into the streets from the Union," she said.
A DPS officer then used a chemical spray on students involved in the fight to separate them.
Olivari said Saturday morning's fight was not the first altercation between the fraternity and individual football players. The fraternity is a member of the Black Greek Association.
BGA President Peter Tate said he does not know if there will be any official reprimand of those students who were involved in the fight.
University Assistant Athletic Director Bruce Madej had no knowledge of the incident.
"I do not know anything about it and that's the first I've heard of it," Madej said last night.
DPS is still investigating the incident, Hall said.