[POLL] Six fraternities charged with hazing in past year

In the last two weeks, the Dean of Students Office has  charged Phi Delta Theta and Lambda Chi Alpha fraternities with hazing.

However, throughout the past year, four other fraternities have been charged with hazing violations as well.  Sigma Phi Epsilon was suspended due to alleged hazing in June, and their national headquarters revoked the chapter’s charter in September.

Associate Dean of Students Tony Blanton said he was not sure why two UK chapters were found in violation in this time span, but said it had something to do with the fraternities’ initiation schedules.

“Part of it has to do with the fact that a lot of fraternities, especially, are getting ready to start their initiations and do that kind of thing,” Blanton said. “When it kind of starts winding down in the semester and this is when you hear about it.”

Although the Phi Delta Theta and Lambda Chi Alpha charges are both hazing violations, they are “different types of incidents,” Blanton said.

The two fraternities are currently under investigation, Blanton said. However, like Lambda Chi Alpha, Phi Delta Theta received a letter from the university informing them of their charge.

Blanton said Lambda Chi Alpha and the Dean of Students Office have already scheduled a meeting to discuss their response. Phi Delta Theta has not responded to the university’s charge.

Ben Duncan, outgoing Interfraternity Council president, said the meeting scheduled between the chapter and the Dean of Students is investigative.

“(Tony) Blanton will take time to review evidence and make a decision (after the meeting), and that’s when the chapter takes action,” Duncan said. “Tomorrow is just an investigative meeting to talk about what happened and where they want to go.”

Duncan said he did not know enough information about either one of the fraternities’ charges, but said the IFC does not get involved until after decisions are made to help them move forward.  He said it was good the Dean of Students was addressing the hazing situations before they become too serious.

“It’s good to see the chapters working actively with the Dean of Students to change initiation practices,” Duncan said. “At the same time, it doesn’t look good to have three violations, but the way you have to look at it is we’re going to have stronger chapters later.”

In March, Phi Kappa Psi and Delta Tau Delta were also charged with hazing. Delta Tau Delta’s chapter president Case Fedor said being charged with hazing led to the organization’s “hazing-free” policy.

Fedor said the chapter had four allegations prior to their hazing charge in March, and the Dean of Students chose to formally charge them.  However, after the chapter wrote a 27-page paper and a presentation on how they were going to improve their chapter, the dean placed sanctions on them to compliment their decision to exclude hazing from their fraternity.

“I don’t know what exactly they were alleged with, but I know personally, after seeing what hazing did to my chapter, it’s best for all chapters to exclude it from their fraternities,” Fedor said.

Delta Tau Delta is currently on probation until June 2011. Fedor said their national headquarters performed membership reviews to ensure all members were “on board” with the new non-hazing sanctions and will decide who will remain in the chapter in January.

In October 2008, Sigma Alpha Epsilon was also charged by the university with hazing. However, chapter president Bobby Pelosi said after the Dean of Students investigated, the initial hazing charge was altered to an alcohol violation.  Pelosi said Sigma Alpha Epsilon’s situation was different.

“Phi Delt and Lambda Chi were caught  pretty much red-handed but (the university) only suspected us of (hazing),” Pelosi said.  “I hope they do well and learn from their mistakes.”

Blanton said fraternity investigations are sparked from reports made to the Dean of Students.

“When we receive a report, we do preliminary investigations and based on that, we decided whether or not to go forward with the charges, we give (the fraternities) an opportunity to explain the circumstances of the alleged activity,” Blanton said. “Based on that, we then determine what actions should be taken.

“We don’t go out and try to find people who are hazing, that’s not our role.”

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1. Phi Delta Theta third fraternity in 5 months charged with hazing
2. Second fraternity charged with hazing in last five months
3. Lambda Chi Alpha chapter charged with hazing
4. Fraternity suspended due to alleged hazing
5. Fraternity ban sets example for hazing reform