Real life problems have intruded on the Sig Ep Chapter at the University of Rochester. One of their members lost his parents when they were beaten and killed in their home. Now that brother is under suspicion.
ROCHESTER -- On the riverfront campus of the University of Rochester, the members of Sigma Phi Epsilon have a reputation for being a tightknit group of academically minded young men, who boast on their Web site of having the highest grade-point averages of any of the school's fraternities.
As a 19-year-old graduate of Bethlehem High School in 2002, freshman Christopher Porco seemed to have everything the fraternity savored -- an interest in biomedical engineering, a diploma from a top academic high school, a long-standing dedication to competitive swimming, and a place in the local ROTC unit.
In the hours and days after Porco's father, Peter, was killed and his mother, Joan, savagely beaten in their Delmar home, the campus community was unyielding in its support of one of their own.
Now that the investigation has continued for more than three weeks without an arrest, and with Porco clearly the focus of the police investigation, the campus has become part of the story. That became obvious last Friday when a parade of "SigEp" men, dressed in dark suits and expressionless faces, filed into the Albany County Courthouse to testify before a grand jury hearing evidence about the attacks.
A patrol car is stationed around the clock outside the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity at the University of Rochester. (Cindy Schultz / Times Union)
