On the first day of classes, Delta Tau Delta was suspended from IU due to multiple accounts of hazing.
Delts face a five-year suspension from campus and members of the fraternity are required to move out of their house by the end of January. The house will be available for a different tenant moving forward. The fraternity did not reveal specifics in regards to the hazing incidents.
Delts, however, is only one of a handful of fraternities that have encountered disciplinary action over the past two years.
According to online university records, Phi Kappa Psi and Sigma Alpha Mu also faced offenses due to hazing. Phi Psi’s suspension involved drug related charges in addition to hazing. The chapter lost their housing privileges, although their house still remains on North Jordan Avenue.
The chapter is scheduled to return to campus in the fall of next year, although they will not move back into their house until fall of 2019, according to Adam Weber, Intrafraternity Council vice president of recruitment and former president of the Delta Chi fraternity.
While not as common as in fraternities, sororities also face hazing charges. Over the course of the past two years, Alpha Gamma Delta and Sigma Delta Tau have faced disciplinary consequences for hazing activities, according to online records.
Both chapters are officially on disciplinary probations, meaning they are under close watch by the university but generally maintain their normal rights and privileges as other chapters do. AGD and SDT are both off probation later this year, according to university records.
The records indicate a very common offense that both fraternities and sororities face include alcohol use and situations that generally endanger others. Because fraternities host parties and social events which provide alcohol, it’s more common for them to face repercussions. Sororities, however, have consequences for their behavior at these events, as they are willing participants with specific paired fraternities.
IU Police Department Capt. Andy Stephenson said campus police officers have not recently received any criminal complaints related to the Delts incident or from other Greek chapters in general.
Jack Polte, IFC vice president of standards, said there are two primary levels of allegations Greek life can experience: individual instances and wrongs of the chapter culture.
“Hazing is probably the biggest cultural one,” Polte said. “Sexual assault, rape and alcohol charges can be more individual in certain cases.”
Polte said individual cases can be handled a few different ways, including removing the member at fault from the chapter and disaffiliating them from the chapter.
“This will show your members that that kind of behavior is not acceptable,” Polte said. “It also shows the university that you’re making strides, you’re taking these things seriously and you’re trying to work on improving your chapter.”
Education for members and involvement in campus initiatives are intended to help bring greek organizations back in the clear. Programs such as Counseling and Psychological Services, Culture of Care, and Men Against Rape and Sexual Assault can offer training sessions for these groups, Polte said.
“This kind of puts things together so people know what’s expected of them,” he said. “They can teach those kids in a larger setting of how they can handle these situations and how they can make a positive impact on their chapter in the future.”
All 30 chapters in IFC are on board with MARS.
Polte and Weber said they look forward to IFC working more closely with the IU Panhellenic Association. Greek student leaders of IFC and PHA will be going to a two-day retreat at Bradford Woods together next weekend.
