Miami University Is Picking Off Fraternities Left And Right

Harrison Lee10 years ago

Update Tuesday April 19 at 5:52 p.m.

Two fraternities listed in the investigations were reportedly cleared of any wrongdoings. According to some tipsters, Lambda Chi Alpha and Delta Tau Delta were cleared by the school and The Miami Student had false information. We will keep you updated as more information comes in.

Originally posted on Tuesday April 19 at 4:15 p.m.

Two months ago, Miami University made headlines when they forced every fraternity to effectively end the pledging process and initiate all new members. Today, they are making headlines for what could be the death of fraternities at one of America’s most storied Greek life universities.

Three fraternities were suspended for multiple years by the school for what is being called hazing, while five other fraternities are being investigated for possible hazing charges. The three that were suspended are Phi Kappa Tau, Pi Kappa Alpha and Pi Kappa Phi. The five under investigation are: Alpha Delta Phi, Delta Sigma Phi, Delta Tau Delta, Lambda Chi Alpha, and Sigma Pi. Let’s break down each one’s alleged offense.

Phi Kappa Tau, Suspended Until 2020

The Miami Student is reporting that an anonymous tip is what led to Phi Kappa Tau being kicked off for hazing.

On March 3, Kelly Ramsey, associate director of Miami’s Office of Ethics and Student Conflict Resolution (OESCR), notified Robert Nigro, president of Phi Kappa Tau fraternity, of an anonymous complaint that included screenshots of a GroupMe exchange between new Phi Kappa Tau members. The complaint alleged that new members were involved in workouts, provided servitude to active members and were held against their will.

Oh no! Not the workouts again. God forbid we try to keep our members in shape and combating the dreaded freshman 15. That’s a soft hazing violation and surely doesn’t not warrant a 4-year suspension.

Pi Kappa Alpha, Suspended Until 2020

The reason Pike got the boot was because an anonymous classmate of a Pike member heard him say that he couldn’t go to a group project because he had fraternity stuff. The member then joked that he would come covered in hot sauce and drunk.

“In light of the numerous reports of alleged hazing occurring in the community during the new member education period and the action taken by IFC earlier in the semester which mandated new member education stop and chapters initiate, it was difficult for me to understand why a new member would openly joke about being hazed and suggest it would, or has, happened to him,” wrote Susan Vaughn, director of OESCR, in a letter to Pi Kappa Alpha President Aaron Toney.

You can’t joke anymore, guys. Schools will suspend you for an insane amount of time with zero evidence.

Pi Kappa Phi, Suspended Until 2017, Probation Until 2018

Okay, this one might be the worst of them all, and it’s not really all that bad. Essentially the guys made pledges do calisthenics while consuming food and alcohol, called pledges “demeaning names,” made them do servant stuff, and failed to initiate members after the mandate was issued two months ago.

What’s crazy is that while they may have done the worst, they were hit the least with the penalties thanks to Pi Kapp’s Nationals working with the school administration. The guys were also evicted from their house. This is Roger Goodell’s NFL all over again.

Then you have the fraternities who are just under investigation. Sigma Pi is being investigated for some alcohol hazing incidents that occurred before spring break thanks to a call from an anonymous parent. Delta Tau Delta, Lambda Chi Alpha, and Alpha Delta Phi are under investigation for hazing, but have not been hit with a penalty yet.

The craziest of them all? Delta Sigma Phi, who is still waiting on the result of their suspension for allegedly getting girls to write the name of their fraternity on their breasts. So why is this crazy? Because of the fact that their nationals deemed they didn’t even do it at all.

“Our National Headquarters’ internal investigation has concluded that the incident did not take place as alleged,” Hochwalt said in an email to The Miami Student. “The Iota Zeta Chapter of Delta Sigma Phi maintains that our member(s) were not involved in hazing or disorderly conduct.”

Here’s the thing about all of this. Not only does it seem that Miami wants to end Greek life at the school, but this is basically saying that anyone who has a grudge could anonymously submit a tip saying X fraternity is hazing their pledges, and then they’ll get suspended. What a country these days..

[via The Miami Student]

Image via Youtube