Five University of Pennsylvania students who allegedly assaulted a member of the Princeton debate panel are scheduled to appear before a Philadelphia municipal court today at a preliminary hearing. The Penn students face charges ranging from criminal conspiracy to aggravated assault.
Investigations have been ongoing since the Nov. 16 incident.
The Penn students — freshmen David Hochfelder and Philip Balderston, sophomores Thomas Bispham and Tavraj Banga, and senior Steven Stolk — will face charges in court as well as through Penn's Office of Student Conduct.
Confidentiality
The case, like all others at the OSC, must remain confidential, an official said. No information regarding the case's development is open to the public.
John Brantl '05 was sleeping in a lounge of the undergraduate Quadrangle dormitory at Penn with other members of the Princeton debate panel when a man entered the room and began harassing the students, Brantl said.
After Brantl asked him to leave, the student returned later with four other men.
The men allegedly kicked Brantl, doused him with motor oil, threatened to set him on fire and forced him to promise never to return to Penn.
Brantl said he was unable to comment because of the imminent court case.
Five students turned themselves in a week after the attack, Penn police said.
Discipline
Through the OSC, the student disciplinary system has jurisdiction over all four of Penn's undergraduate schools and many graduate programs, according to the website. If the OSC determines that the charged students have broken the Code of Student Conduct, they will face repercussions from Penn.
Penn police were not available for comment.
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