Hazing rules to be addressed in Pitt frat review, dean says
Although University of Pittsburgh police found no evidence of criminal hazing, the Sigma Chi fraternity still faces a campus judicial review to see whether events that left an underage student hospitalized for excessive drinking violated student or Greek conduct policies.
And that policy review will include rules about hazing, dean of students Kenyon Bonner told the student newspaper, The Pitt News, in an interview published Wednesday.
The Jan. 18 incident occurred off campus during a fraternity recruiting event. But Pitt so far has declined to say whether the individual was a pledge or provide even a rough outline of events that occurredat two Oakland residences.
The university also hasn’t said what kind or how much alcohol was consumed by the student, who was too young to legally drink.
Mr. Bonner could not be reached for comment Wednesday. But he explained to The Pitt News that the fraternity review will go forward.
“Under our Student Code of Conduct process, there are a host of other policy violations that could be applied to this situation, including hazing,” he said. “I’m not going to speculate at this point as to what the conduct process will do; that’s what the conduct office is for.”
Asked about the dean’s remark, given the earlier determination by campus police about hazing, Pitt spokesman Joseph Miksch said: “The Student Code of Conduct applies a different standard and the university will look at the incident through that lens.”
Pitt has said the student “voluntarily drank to excess.” The individual has since recovered.
City police also are investigating.
The incident prompted Pitt to ban alcohol events across the campus Greek life system pending the review and efforts by the organizations to improve safety and culture. The fraternity is under suspension.
The incident comes at a time when fraternity hazing and campus policies to address and disclose it are under scrutiny nationally, given recent highly publicized deaths at Penn State University and other campuses.