IU Alpha Tau Omega suspended after hazing video surfaces

[3StringedLyre]

"Indiana University has suspended a fraternity for allegedly performing a hazing ceremony that involved “sexual misconduct,” the university said late Wednesday.

Alpha Tau Omega would be banned from hosting social events and sponsoring new members while the investigation was underway, according to IU spokesman Mark Land."

http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/indiana-u...id=sm_fb_msnbc

[amillionlights]

Bad day for Greek life news.

[Sister Havana]

Update: The national office has revoked the charter and closed the chapter, effective immediately.

This is at least the third time that the IU chapter has been closed down since 1992, my freshman year at IU.

[NWguy]

If proven to be true, it's good riddance. They should have learned from the previous times they ran into trouble.

Maybe I'm wrong, but in this particular case it seems the national office is to blame for not effectively communicating to that chapter's executive council that such rituals or activities are not permitted.

[IndianaSigKap]

Last time they were kicked off campus, some alumni and brothers got together and rented an entire block of apartments at an expensive apartment complex located on Kirkwood Ave. They had an underground chapter which still had pledges and paired parties. They came back to campus stronger than ever.

[Kevin]

Originally Posted by IndianaSigKap

Last time they were kicked off campus, some alumni and brothers got together and rented an entire block of apartments at an expensive apartment complex located on Kirkwood Ave. They had an underground chapter which still had pledges and paired parties. They came back to campus stronger than ever.

This is often a problem with established chapters. The alumni set so much of the tone that no matter what HQ does with visiting consultants, the chapter will do what it wants to do. That's why I'm more of a proponent of colonizations vs. recolonizations. Why go somewhere you've already failed at?

[NWguy]

Just saw a few photos of said incident; ugh. It looks to be an Initiation ritual.

With a diversity of men - openly gay, minorities with religious affiliation - joining fraternities now, these types of rituals need to be abandoned. It's gross, first of all, but on top of that it's offensive to anyone joining a chapter and later finding out this is part of the formal process to becoming an active member.

[33girl]

Originally Posted by Kevin

This is often a problem with established chapters. The alumni set so much of the tone that no matter what HQ does with visiting consultants, the chapter will do what it wants to do. That's why I'm more of a proponent of colonizations vs. recolonizations. Why go somewhere you've already failed at?

Perhaps the national organization needs to do a better job of choosing men for the recolonization. If 1) men are pledging what they know is an underground chapter over the recognized ones 2) the other fraternities and sororities continue to associate with the underground chapter, then something is lacking.

[Kevin]

Originally Posted by 33girl

Perhaps the national organization needs to do a better job of choosing men for the recolonization. If 1) men are pledging what they know is an underground chapter over the recognized ones 2) the other fraternities and sororities continue to associate with the underground chapter, then something is lacking.

I could speculate wildly here about what happened, but since I don't like it when others do that, I'll just leave it at this.

--what an amazing, totally unexpected coincidence that people would join an ATO colony while an underground chapter had been operating and then go on to have basically all of the same problems as the original group. Truly, truly shocking.

[33girl]

Yep. I think sometimes people have been in Indy so long they forget what college is really like.

[Sister Havana]

The letters are already off the house and the sign in front has been removed. Not messing around.

I do feel bad for the cook and other full-time house employees.

[DeltaBetaBaby]

Originally Posted by 33girl

Yep. I think sometimes people have been in Indy so long they forget what college is really like.

Interestingly, this chapter is pretty dang close to Indy, and ATO is indeed headquartered there.

(curiosity got the best of me, so I looked it up...ATO has five chapters in Indiana. I think Depauw would be the closest by a hair, then Ball State, Purdue, IU, and Rose-Hullman.)

[aephi alum]

I read about this on cnn.com. Apparently the male in question was a 21-year-old fully initiated brother. There were two women in the house. They were exotic dancers, not students.

The national CEO is quoted as saying, "[N]o pledge was compelled to participate. Regardless, the actions are contrary to the ideals and principles of Alpha Tau Omega and are highly offensive."

When will people learn? *smh*

[PKT4LIFE]

That's news to me too! And the plot thickens.

[aephi alum]

Upon review of the article, I see that it makes reference to "a sex act" and "a sexually explicit act". I don't actually see the word "rape" in the article. My apologies for jumping to that conclusion.

Still, disgusting and unacceptable.