Behind closed doors: Fraternity suspended amidst paddling allegations, more sanctions possible (w/documents)
Facing allegations of pledge-paddling, one University fraternity has been suspended from all activities until further notice, according to documents obtained by The Red & Black.
The Pi Kappa Phi fraternity could face serious punishments after an investigation into alleged hazing. PHOTO BY WES BLANKENSHIP
The University’s chapter of the Pi Kappa Phi fraternity could now be facing strict reprimands from its national branch and further sanctions from the University, including permanent removal from campus.
Mark Timmes, national chief executive officer of Pi Kappa Phi, has proposed several sanctions for the chapter, not only against the individuals directly involved in the hazing, but against the chapter as a whole.
Included in these proposed disciplinary actions is the immediate suspension of the chapter’s charter and all activities until Aug. 1. The proposal also recommends the barring of all members — excluding the Fall 2009 pledge class — from any involvement with the fraternity for a period of four years and prohibiting any new members until January of 2011.
The hazing investigation, which eventually led to the proposed disciplinary actions, was launched in response to an anonymous letter sent to the Greek Life Office.
The letter was reportedly sent by a concerned parent of a pledge in the fraternity. According to the letter, the parent said one day he saw “serious abrasions and bruises and cuts all over” his son’s buttocks as his son stepped out of the shower. When asked about the injuries, the pledge initially said he fell, but after further questioning, the parent received a different explanation.
“He was beaten, plain and clear,” the letter reads. “The night of initiation, apparently a very few of the boys decided the best way to initiate the pledges would be to paddle them, BUT beat new pledges with all their might and strength. They stood in a line and one by one received a severe paddling.”
Despite the impending abuse, the letter said the pledges waited to be beaten.
“My son heard the first few boys receive theirs and knew what was coming,” the letter reads. “He did not think it would be bad until they hit him and he practically fell down.”
The pain lasted long after the beating, the letter said.
“I heard they could not even go to sleep or walk that night,” it reads. “From what I have heard, none of the boys could hardly walk and all had bruises for many days, and the bruises lasted for weeks.”
The letter also said the parent had been instructed by his son to keep this incident a secret, and the parent came forward only because he believes the issue needs to be addressed.
“At this time I cannot for obvious reasons leave my name or when word gets out they will likely kill my son,” he wrote.
Because of the severity of his injuries, the parent’s son was reportedly taken to the hospital. He was reportedly diagnosed with an infection and a blood clot, which, if any more severe, would have required surgery. According to the letter, the doctor also said it appeared the pledges were beaten hard enough to possibly break a hip.
After an investigation, however, Timmes said in a press release that “it appears the allegations are unsubstantiated and we do not believe them to be true.”
Though he did admit violations had occurred, he told The Red & Black they were “absolutely not related to what was described in this letter.”
When Timmes was told The Red & Black had obtained documents in which he is quoted telling Assistant Dean of Students Brandon Frye that paddling had occurred, Timmes then said, “There was some paddling, but nothing as described in this letter.”
According to Frye’s handwritten notes acquired by The Red & Black, the president of the University’s Pi Kappa Phi chapter, Brent Stringer , also confirmed “they paddled during initiation.”
Though the allegations are still under investigation by the University, the national fraternity’s Hearing Committee addressed the case Feb. 28 and made a recommendation to the National Council, Pi Kappa Phi’s Board of Directors.
If Timmes’ proposed disciplinary actions, outlined in documents obtained by The Red & Black, are accepted by the board, the chapter would be suspended of all activities until Aug. 1, 2010.
Except for the Fall of 2009 pledge class, all current members would be given early alumni status, regardless if they were “perpetrator, enabler or bystander.” This would mean only this year’s freshmen would be allowed to have any involvement with the fraternity for the next four years.
“We would rebuild and reorganize around those men,” Timmes said in a phone interview Tuesday.
The fraternity would also take many steps in order to ensure no future hazing would occur after the fraternity would be allowed to have pledges again in January of 2011. Not only would the chapter be required to host numerous workshops dealing with issues such as hazing prevention and risk management, but the Lambda Chapter housing corporation which owns the fraternity house would also be required to hire a live-in adviser by August.
“We want to make sure we set these men up for success in a non-hazing environment,” Timmes said. “There would be no hazing. Period.”
Despite the national chapter’s recommendation, the University could still ban the fraternity from campus, a prospect several parents of fraternity members are speaking out against.
“My son has been the recipient of many, many beneficial aspects of the organization,” Kathy Burke wrote in an e-mail to Frye. “He is both a better student, and a better man for his participation in this organization.”
Other parents highlighted the importance the recipients of the beatings not be punished for the actions of the older members.
“It seems so wrong to me for this pledge class to be punished for something they have no control over,” Maureen Kaps wrote in an e-mail to Frye.
Since the fraternity house is owned and operated by a separate organization, members are still allowed to live there for the remainder of their lease, Timmes said.
Although the Board of Directors has 90 days to make its final decision on what sanctions to hand down, Timmes doesn’t expect it to take that long.
“We’re certainly trying to resolve it much sooner than that,” he said.
Pi Kappa Phi has been on campus since 1915 and has initiated more than 1,700 members since. The chapter now has nearly 100 members.
Despite several calls from The Red & Black, Stringer, the University chapter’s president, Ryan Gillis, the chapter’s vice president, and several members of the chapter refused to comment.
