The fraternity involved in a December hazing incident has been closed by its national board of directors.
Sidney Dunn, executive vice president of Alpha Epsilon Pi Fraternity, announced Jan. 31 that the board had voted formally to “suspend the charter and revoke recognition of the Omega Deuteron chapter . . . at the University of Michigan. This decision will effectively disband the group and close operations,” according to Dunn’s statement. The action was taken, he said, following a lengthy investigation into violations of the fraternity’s risk management policy.
The national fraternity’s decision follows an incident on Dec. 5 in which an air rifle fired by one of the local chapter’s members injured a pledge in the groin area during a hazing ritual.
U-M’s Interfraternity Council (IFC), the campus governing organization for the U-M’s 29 fraternities, issued a statement accepting AEPi’s action.
“This is the right decision given the circumstances of this incident,” said IFC President Adam Silver. “It should serve as a prime example of the consequences that fraternities will face if they haze their members.”
According to the statement, the IFC is joining with the Black Greek Association and the Panhellenic Association to appoint a task force of student leaders to propose new policies and programs to combat the problem of hazing on campus.
Interim Dean of Students Frank Cianciola said he stands with the IFC in support of the AEPi decision. “I think it was the appropriate course of action. The IFC clearly abhors hazing and won’t tolerate it, and that coincides with the University’s position in condemning organizations engaging in that kind of behavior,” he said.