North Carolina fraternity suspended for hazing as national organization confronts horrifying past
Sigma Phi Epsilon's UNC Greensboro chapter suspension stems from an investigation of recruitment violations and hazing
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Sigma Phi Epsilon's chapter at UNC Greensboro was given a 10-year suspension from the university amid a hazing investigation into the fraternity's alleged recruitment violations.
UNC-Greensboro told Fox News Digital that its chapter of Sigma Phi Epsilon has been suspended for a decade after an investigation revealed recruitment violations and hazing. This suspension means that Sigma Phi Epsilon’s "University Affiliation" is revoked or restricted.
"UNC Greensboro suspended its chapter of Sigma Phi Epsilon for 10 years, following an investigation of hazing and recruitment violations. The university received serious allegations from a variety of sources, including students," a spokesperson for the university shared with Fox News Digital.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Despite revealing that an investigation was underway and that the chapter had been suspended, the university did not elaborate on the nature of allegations against the fraternity.
UVA STUDENT HOSPITALIZED IN ALLEGED HAZING, SCHOOL HALTS ALL FRATERNITY EVENTS
UNC Greensboro has suspended its chapter of Sigma Phi Epsilon for 10 years following an investigation of hazing and recruitment violations, according to the school. (FOX8/ X @UNCG_SigEp)
"A thorough investigation by the university found that the Sigma Phi Epsilon chapter violated recruitment policies and committed clear violations of our anti-hazing policy, by engaging in activity that put in jeopardy the health and safety of students. Any activity that jeopardizes the health and safety of our students will not be tolerated," the statement continued.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The school said that to date, there have been no arrests or conduct actions taken against any individual student and that actions were against the organization.
"UNCG is committed to hosting fraternities and sororities on our campus that uphold strong values of academic, personal, and leadership development of its members. The university does not tolerate actions or activities that are counter to our values and standards," the school said.
According to users on the site "Greek Rank," the UNCG chapter was known to "throw the absolute best parties all the time." The headquarters of the fraternity also issued a statement to Fox News Digital on the investigation against the UNCG chapter.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Sigma Phi Epsilon Headquarters is aware of the University of North Carolina-Greensboro's suspension of SigEp's North Carolina Omicron chapter. SigEp’s purpose is to develop balanced leaders in a safe environment that fosters dignity and respect, and hazing has no place in our experience," a spokesperson for the fraternity said.
The statement goes on to say that Sigma Phi Epsilon’s purpose is to "develop balanced leaders in a safe environment that fosters dignity and respect" and that "hazing has no place" in Sigma Phi Epsilon.
UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI FRATERNITY SHUT DOWN AFTER VIDEO OF EXPLICIT CHANT SURFACES
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}UMiami's Sigma Phi Epsilon chapter was shut down immediately after a video surfaced showing members taking part in an explicit chant. (Eva Marie Uzcategui/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
"As our track record shows, SigEp seeks to collaborate with our host institutions in ensuring the safety of our students, and, when included by our host institutions, we do not hesitate to take swift accountability steps when student safety is at risk. We will work with stakeholders involved to gather information and determine next steps for the chapter," the statement concluded.
This is the most recent in the history of allegations and controversy facing the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity as incidents have been reported at different chapters across the nation for decades.
In October 2022, the Miami chapter of Sigma Phi Epsilon was shut down after a video surfaced showing its members reciting an explicit chant at a pool party about having sex with a dead woman, according to the school's newspaper, the Miami Hurricane.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Prior to 2022, another North Carolina chapter, UNC Charlotte, was suspended in 2017 for four years because of hazing allegations. The school told the Charlotte Observer that Sigma Phi Epsilon accepted responsibility and was suspended until Aug. 15, 2021. The university added that no students filed charges against the fraternity and campus police did not investigate.
Sigma Phi Epsilon also faced other allegations in 2015, 2014 and 2011.
Investigators told WYFF that 19-year-old Tucker Hipps died after he fell off a highway bridge near South Carolina's Clemson campus when he was forced to walk along a narrow bridge railing in a hazing incident in 2014.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}UNC Greensboro announced that Sigma Phi Epsilon is under investigation for hazing and recruitment violations. (UNCG Sigma Phi Epsilon NC Omicron)
According to a memorial page dedicated to Hipps, his family said no one has ever come forward to say what really happened to Tucker and that no one has ever been arrested or charged in his death.
Eighty-six current and former members of a fraternity at Yale University were sued over a deadly tailgating crash at the 2011 Yale-Harvard football game in New Haven.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A U-Haul truck carrying beer kegs heading to the Sigma Phi Epsilon tailgating area outside the Yale Bowl fatally struck 30-year-old Nancy Barry, of Salem, Massachusetts, and injured two other women. Brendan Ross, a Yale student and SigEp fraternity member who was driving the truck, entered a probation program that erased the criminal charges against him.
In 2014, the University of Mississippi chapter was closed after three members were accused of tying a noose around the neck of a statue of the first Black student to enroll in the then-all-White Southern college.
Prosecutors said another former student, Graeme Phillip Harris, hatched the plan to place the noose and Confederate flag on the statue after a night of drinking with Austin Reed Edenfield and a third freshman in the Sigma Phil Epsilon fraternity house. Officials said Edenfield actually tied the noose on James Meredith's statue after Harris could not do it.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}In a previous news release, the Justice Department said that Harris was indicted on one count of conspiracy to violate civil rights and one count of using a threat of force to intimidate African-American students because of their race or color.
MISSOURI FRAT PLEDGE LOSES ABILITY TO WALK, TALK, SEE AFTER ALLEGED HAZING INCIDENT, ATTORNEY SAYS
A fraternity has been suspended from a North Carolina campus following a hazing investigation by the university. (FOX8)
"All these chapters have been held accountable and are now closed. The majority of these incidents occurred prior to the bold changes we've made, and in the near-decade since implementing these changes, we've seen far fewer incidents of behavior that is not aligned with a safe, positive SigEp experience," a SigEp spokesperson said. "This comes in contrast to many other fraternities who have not yet implemented a non-pledging, non-hazing, substance-free facility experience."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A spokesperson for Sigma Phi Epsilon headquarters said the organization has and will continue to lead the fraternity world and higher education in instituting ambitious and often long-overdue changes to the fraternity experience.
In 2015, SigEp said that 200 undergraduate chapters voted to end pledging and fully adopt the Balanced Man Program, a non-pledging, non-hazing four-year member development program that addresses the needs of today's college men.
The organization also launched the "Live Your Oath" partnership with Alpha Delta Pi, a women’s sorority, as a call to action for sexual assault awareness on campus in 2016.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA FRATERNITY SUED FOR HAZING AFTER STUDENT SUFFERS TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY
An outside view of the Sigma Phi Epsilon campus headquarters located inside the Panhellenic Building at the University of Miami on Monday, Oct. 10, 2022, in Coral Gables, Florida. (Matias J. Ocner/Miami Herald/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
Then, in 2017, SigEp voted to remove alcohol from chapter homes.
The latest move the fraternity made was in 2019, when SigEp's leadership chose to leave the National Interfraternity Conference due to its underinvestment in student health and safety initiatives.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The fraternity spokesperson said that these changes have improved student safety, academic success, retention and professional preparedness.
"There is no place for hazing in the Sigma Phi Epsilon experience. We have a track record that shows we do not hesitate to institute accountability measures, including chapter closure and member expulsion, if undergraduates take action that puts student safety at risk," the organization said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The fraternity also praised their non-pledging, continuous member development model and substance-free policy that has been adopted, and will continue to be adopted, by other fraternities who see the many benefits of their modern approaches.
"The intent of these changes was not to merely re-brand the image of the fraternity, but to deliver a valuable, safe college experience that is part of the daily lives of our 12,000 students and prepares them for personal and professional leadership after college," a SigEp spokesperson said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.