IU suspended over alcohol abuse
IU frat suspended over alcohol use
Associated Press
October 11, 2003
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BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- An Indiana University fraternity has been suspended for allowing a student to drink so much alcohol during a pledge event he was hospitalized afterward with alcohol poisoning.
IU Dean of Students Dick McKaig suspended Pi Kappa Phi fraternity on Friday, banning it from taking part in campus activities or sponsoring chapter functions.
McKaig said the fraternity could face additional sanctions.
The national Pi Kappa Phi organization also suspended the Indiana University chapter this week over the same incident.
IU's action arose from an Oct. 3 incident in which fraternity members took a severely intoxicated student to Bloomington Hospital for treatment for alcohol poisoning.
According to McKaig and Bloomington police reports, an investigation found that the 19-year-old student, who was pledging the fraternity, was drinking earlier that night during a house event called Big Brother Night.
Some fraternity members initially denied there was alcohol use at the house, according to an IU police report. But after further investigation, they admitted there was, the report said.
Three of the students were cited for false informing and two people were cited for furnishing alcohol to a minor, the police report said.
McKaig said individual students could be subject to campus disciplinary action ranging from a reprimand to expulsion.
The national Pi Kappa Phi organization, based in Charlotte, N.C., issued a statement saying it had suspended the IU chapter and its members were cooperating with investigators.
The IU chapter of the fraternity was founded in November 1947 and has had more than 1,000 members over the years.
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