October 13, 1998
Web posted at: 6:47 p.m. EDT (2247 GMT)

FORT COLLINS, Colorado (CNN) -- Colorado State University officials have launched an investigation into how a homecoming float with a scarecrow and anti-gay graffiti on it appeared in Saturday's parade while Matthew Shepard lay dying in a nearby hospital.

The school said it received several complaints about the float, sponsored by Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity and Alpha Chi Omega sorority. Officials also said the investigation could lead to disciplinary action for those responsible.

Because the badly beaten Shepard had been tethered to a fence, the bicyclists who found him said at first they mistook him for a scarecrow.

Nicholas Haws, homecoming chairman for Pi Kappa Alpha, said the scarecrow was supposed to be in the uniform of Tulsa University's Golden Hurricane, Colorado State's opponents in Saturday's football game.

He said someone vandalized the float Friday night, pinning a sign saying "I am Gay" and an anti-gay epithet on the figure. He said the scarecrow was removed but someone placed it back on the float before Saturday's parade.

Nathan Stanley, president of the Fort Collins chapter of the fraternity, said the appearance of the scarecrow was inadvertent. "The fraternity does not promote any kind of stuff like that," he said.

Fraternity members also said those responsible for the float have been suspended.

The sorority did not immediately comment.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.