Maryland eases most Greek bans
School continues investigation into hazing allegations
ANNAPOLIS, Md. — The University of Maryland lifted its suspension of most fraternities and sororities after an investigation into hazing and alcohol-related activities, the university said Friday, though five chapters will remain under investigation and continue to be subject to limited restrictions on activities.
Court filings made public included reports of forced heavy drinking, beatings with a paddle, burning with cigarettes and exposure to cold.
The university in College Park announced on March 1 it was suspending fraternity and sorority activities, citing allegations of misconduct. Events involving alcohol and recruitment activities were banned during the suspension.
“As a result of evidence suggesting involvement in hazing or other incidents that threatened the health and safety of our campus community, the University is continuing its investigation of five chapters through the Office of Student Conduct,” the university said in a statement. The school added that individual students will also be referred to the office for potential conduct violations.
A group representing several fraternities filed a lawsuit last week against the university in federal court, seeking a restraining order against the ban. Attorneys for the four fraternities that sued did not immediately return a phone message, and an email seeking comment on the university’s announcement.
The lawsuit has the support of the national Fraternal Forward Coalition, which said in a statement it would continue to pursue it.
“Administrators who participated in or were complicit in this egregious erosion of student liberties must be held accountable,” said Wynn Smiley, a spokesman for the coalition in a statement.
Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown’s office argued in court documents filed Friday that as a result of the university’s decision to lift the restrictions, the fraternities’ request for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction is moot and should be denied.
The order applied to the 37 groups that are part of the university’s Interfraternity Council and Panhellenic Association. It did not apply to the university’s 13 multicultural Greek organizations or five historically Black fraternities and sororities.
The university announced that 32 chapters have been cleared to return to normal activities. That includes three of the four plaintiff chapters, Brown’s office said in a court filing, including Theta Chi, Alpha Sigma Phi and Alpha Tau Omega. As a result, the court filing said, there are no pending restrictions on their chapter activities.
The university has continued its investigation against one of the fraternities that sued based on serious allegations of hazing and alcohol abuse, the court filing said.
The university’s Office of Student Conduct received two referrals alleging conduct violations in February, in which a resident director reported that he found multiple prohibited substances and drug paraphernalia in a fraternity house, according to court records.
The office also received an anonymous report from a parent that their son was being subjected to harmful hazing by being required to stay outside in the cold for several hours, requiring a trip to the university health center for suspected hypothermia.
Later that month, the office received an anonymous email alleging multiple unidentified fraternities were hazing new members by beating them with a paddle, burning them with cigarettes and having them lay on nails, according to court records. They also were forced to consume live fish, chewing tobacco and urine, according to the documents.
The person who sent the anonymous email also reported being forced to attend a “Line Up,” where he was abused for “hours on end,” forced to wall sit, do push-ups, planks, and “be naked/in underwear for the purpose of public humiliation, and be physically assaulted,” according to court documents.
“At one of these events one individual passed out as they refused to provide us with water and forced us to drink straight vodka and they did nothing to help him, in fact they hit him in the face with a plastic bat and poured beer on him until he woke up,” the student wrote in the email.
A court hearing is been set for today It was not immediately clear how the university’s action to clear most of the fraternities for normal activities would affect the lawsuit.