The University of Virginia has suspended two fraternity chapters and terminated another one entirely after reports of significant hazing activity.
Theta Chi and Sigma Alpha Mu have had their fraternal organization agreements, or FOAs, with UVa suspended, while Pi Kappa Alpha has had its FOA terminated for at least four years. In addition, Pi Kappa Alpha’s national leadership has announced it will be pursuing civil litigation of several brothers at UVa.
The university has yet to disclose any additional details, including when the alleged violations of the school’s hazing policy took place or when the school made its decision.
University spokeswoman Bethanie Glover told The Daily Progress Tuesday that information will be published online in coming weeks. Glover also said she was not aware of any hospitalizations connected to the alleged hazing incidents.
UVa’s Kappa Sigma chapter was suspended at the beginning of March due to a reported hazing incident that resulted in the hospitalization of a second-year transfer student who fell down a set of stairs and hit his head on a wall. There has not been an update on the student’s medical condition.
“The University does not tolerate hazing activity, and we act quickly to investigate and pursue necessary disciplinary action when reports are made,” Glover said in a statement.
A division of UVa Student Affairs is investigating Pi Kappa Alpha, Theta Chi and Sigma Alpha Mu, as well as 20 individual members of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity for their “alleged involvement in hazing,” according to the university. The cases will then be adjudicated according to the procedures of the University Judiciary Committee, which could result in expulsion.
Justin Buck, executive vice president of Pi Kappa Alpha national, issued a strongly worded rebuke of his UVa brothers. UVa’s is the founding chapter of the organization.
In a video posted to YouTube on April 17, Buck calls his brothers there an “embarrassment” and says they have “sullied and degraded” the organization’s good name.
“For the first time since March 1, 1868 … the Pi Kappa Alpha chapter at the University of Virginia had its charter suspended and revoked,” says Buck. “This action was taken following the confirmed abhorrent and detestable hazing activities by individuals.”
The details of those “abhorrent and detestable hazing activities” will eventually be published to the UVa Hazing Misconduct Report online, where they will remain for the next 10 years as required by Adam’s Law, which mandates hazing training at all Virginia colleges. The names of the individuals involved in the hazing cases will not be released, though Buck says that they “should be.”
“The fraternity will be pursuing civil litigation against the president, the new member educator, the new member education team and several others who were directly involved and responsible for violating the terms of their membership agreement as well as for financial and reputational damages,” he says in the video.
Should the investigations find no evidence of wrongdoing by either Theta Chi or Sigma Alpha Mu, the university can restore their fraternal organization agreements, allowing them to resume activities at the school.
On the other hand, if UVa finds that the fraternities violated university policies or its standards of conduct, the school can terminate their FOAs or refer the case to the University Judiciary Committee for further investigation and sanctioning.
This is not the first time that Pi Kappa Alpha’s fraternal organization agreement has been revoked by the university. The UVa student newspaper, the Cavalier Daily, reported that the fraternity was terminated in 2014 due to hazing violations, though it appealed the decision and had accepted new brothers by 2015.
With the recent charge against Pi Kappa Alpha, UVa has now terminated three of its fraternity organizations in just two years. Phi Gamma Delta and Kappa Alpha were terminated in the spring of 2022 after investigations confirmed hazing allegations against the groups.
“April 14, 2024, will forever be a historic day in Pi Kappa Alpha but not a day that we will celebrate,” Buck says in the video. “It will be a day that we remember for losing the two oldest and longest continuously operating chapters in our history. Men, we must do better.”
Source: www.dailyprogress.com
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