The University of Colorado Boulder suspended the Phi Kappa Sigma fraternity after “credible reports of hazing” regarding the group.
The university announced the suspension through its Thursday evening, noting that the hazing happened Monday and was reported Tuesday. Under federal law, colleges are required to notify about crimes that occur in or around campus.
“Phi Kappa Sigma has been placed under an interim suspension as the university investigates, which includes the suspension of all fraternity activities,” according to the alert.
The school defines hazing as “any action or situation that recklessly or intentionally endangers the health, safety, or welfare of, or causes a risk of bodily injury to, an individual for the purpose of initiation, participation, admission into, or affiliation with any organization or CU Boulder group,” according to its website.
Hazing could include “any abuse of a mental or physical nature, forced consumption of any food, liquor, drugs, or substances, any forced physical activity that could adversely affect the health or safety of an individual, any activity that would subject the individual to embarrassment or humiliation, or any forced violation of CU Boulder policy, and/or local, state, or federal law.”
The university has notified Phi Kappa Sigma headquarters regarding the reported hazing and is communicating with them, according to CU Boulder spokesperson Sarah Barwacz.
“We will be partnering with the institution to investigate the alleged behaviors from our Chapter at the University of Colorado – Boulder,” Ryan Eisnaugle, the executive director at Phi Kappa Sigma’s International Headquarters, said in a statement. “Phi Kappa Sigma does not tolerate hazing or hazing like behaviors and will continue to strive to eradicate it from the Greek System.”
Students in CU Boulder’s chapter did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The university recived two anonymous reports of “extreme or severe hazing” this week but did not say whether they were related to the Phi Kappa Sigma fraternity. The anonymous reports are under investigation, Barwacz said, and the university “has received one credible report of hazing involving Phi Kappa Sigma,” which prompted the interim suspension.
Phi Kappa Sigma is one of nine fraternities affiliated with the university that are part of the CU Interfraternity Council, according to CU Boulder’s website, which is why the university can take action against it for accusations of hazing. Phi Kappa Sigma joined the CU Boulder IFC in the spring of 2022 as a new fraternity chapter.
The majority of CU Boulder students who are in fraternities belong to one of the 22 chapters that are unaffiliated with the university and part of the Interfraternity Council on the Hill. With those fraternities, the university can only investigate individual students under the CU Boulder student code of conduct.
The school asks anyone with information regarding the Phi Kappa Sigma hazing incident or any other hazing to report it to their or to campus police, which has an
