The Independent Voice of Southern Methodist University Since 1915

The Daily Campus

The Daily Campus

The Independent Voice of Southern Methodist University Since 1915

The Daily Campus

The Independent Voice of Southern Methodist University Since 1915

The Daily Campus

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PIKE suspended after investigation found fraternity booze-hazed, forced pledges to eat onions, eggs

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SMU’s Beta Zeta chapter of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity was suspended Monday after an investigation into hazing.

The fraternity had already been told by the university to cease all organizational activity while the investigation was underway.

Related: Pi Kappa Alpha ordered to cease all activity by university pending hazing investigation

According to an email from the school’s Interfraterity Council, which was obtained by The Daily Campus, the suspension “is being jointly assigned with the Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity National Headquarters” and the university.

A university spokesman confirmed the suspension, and said it will last four and a half years.

The university investigation uncovered a number of hazing offenses by the fraternity.

Some instances, according to the email, include “forcing new members to consume onions, hot sauce, eggs and milk” and “requiring or encouraging” new members to drink alcohol.

The hazing offenses appear similar to those committed by the SMU Kappa Alpha Order chapter, which was suspended in the fall.

Related: SMU chapter of Kappa Alpha Order suspended for 4 years

The fraternity also participated in “The Gauntlet,” a booze-hazing ritual explicitly prohibited in the organization’s current accountability agreement.

Another instance was a call to the SMU Police Department needing assistance at an off-campus location in February. When The Daily Campus originally requested the police report, the department only released minimal details after a ruling by the attorney general.

The email also alleges “underground” membership tactics used by the fraternity, and the discovery of the smell of marijuana at an off-campus location in February.

“It is clear these men were not interested in meeting the expectations of Pi Kappa Alpha nor adding value to Beta Zeta Chapter’s or Pi Kappa Alpha’s rich history,” a spokesman for organization said in a statement.

The suspension means PIKE will be required to immediately leave the chapter house and cannot host any PIKE-sponsored events.

The university has arranged alternative living arrangements for those who lived in the house, and will provide “other resources to help with their transition,” the spokesman said.

Pi Kappa Alpha is the third fraternity to be suspended from campus since Lambda Chi Alpha was suspended in spring 2016.

This is a breaking news situation. Additional details will be added by The Daily Campus as they come in.

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