Pi Kappa Phi suspension remains indefinite during hazing investigation
Pi Kappa Phi has been suspended indefinitely as of Nov. 15 after failing to comply with prior sanctions.
The fraternity is also under investigation for hazing.
Pi Kappa Phi was temporarily suspended last spring as the Office of Student Conduct conducted an investigation, said Director of Student Conduct Tom Idema. Following the investigation, the organization was recognized again on campus but was issued sanctions that it did not adhere to, Idema said.
Idema declined to elaborate on what the sanctions were because of the current investigation.
The fraternity was suspended indefinitely, rather than temporarily, because the group has a “prior history” with the Office of Student Conduct, Idema said. Prior situations have involved alcohol and risk management issues, he said.
If the group had been accused of hazing but did not have this prior history, it would have been suspended temporarily as the Office of Student Conduct conducts its investigation, Idema said.
Following the investigation, Idema said the university will work with the Pi Kappa Phi national headquarters to replace the word “indefinitely” with a specific time and reach an agreement about what action would be appropriate.
“When they didn’t follow those sanctions and we found out about it, the result of that was to suspend the group,” Idema said. “Now we have a hazing allegation to look into so it doesn’t make any sense for us to put a time on this particular incident (right now).”
Right now, Student Conduct is looking into the hazing allegation. The office will try to complete the investigation as soon as possible, Idema said, but the timetable depends on scheduling and cooperation of those involved.
The suspension means the fraternity is not currently recognized by Central Michigan University and should not be operating as a fraternity. Once the investigation is complete, he added, decisions will be made about the status of the organization moving forward.
“We look at the totality of what’s going on,” Idema said. “We’ve got to suspend groups so we can look into things and make sure nothing is happening so that the group stays safe. We’re going to look into (the hazing allegation) for what it is, then we’ll also take into account what they didn’t do for the past time they were sanctioned.”
