Indictment in November; graduation in December.
That sums up the end of 2015 for Brittaney Hicks, the 23-year-old University of Memphis alum who allegedly stole more than $10,000 as the vice president of Pi Beta Phi sorority from February 2013 to January 2014 by forging more than 30 checks.
In November 2015 she was charged with theft of property over $10,000 and identity theft, for signing the name of the chapter’s president and pocketing the money. She was later released on a $3,000 bond and graduated a month later from the U of M with a biology degree and minors in anthropology and chemistry.
Ryan L. Van Dusen, associate dean of the office of student conduct, explained the official policy for students possibly stealing large sums of money from organizations and continuing to be enrolled at the University “depends on the situation.”
“We’d have to be referred from the police department,” Van Dusen said. “We’d have to get the police report and then we’d look at the situation.”
Van Dusen mentioned specifically that forging checks also depends on the situation.
“That would still fall under the Code of Student Conduct,” said Van Dusen. “Potentially, it could be financial irresponsibility.”
Van Dusen could not comment on Brittaney Hicks or any other specific situation because of privacy issues.
Pi Beta Phi’s headquarters in Missouri also declined to comment about Hicks over the phone.
