By DAVID DUPONT
BG Independent News
Members of a fraternity urged pledges to lie to Bowling Green State University officials investigating charges of hazing last fall.
The fraternity Phi Kappa Psi has been banned from campus and was forced to vacate the house in the Greek Village last December. Of the fraternity’s 50 members, a dozen lived in the house. At the time the suspension was announced the university said it would find on-campus housing for those who needed it.
University documents detail the charges of hazing and obstruction that led to the sanctions, which will keep the fraternity off campus until at least fall, 2020.
The charges stem from the fraternity’s Dawn Dance, an event not sanctioned by the university, held last Sept. 30 and Oct. 1.
At the event the pledges were threatened with being struck with a tree branch if they did not answer questions about trivia on the fraternity’s history correctly. At least one pledge was struck by a non-member, a female guest.
The pledges were also pointedly not called by their names, but had to respond to “pledge” or a nickname. They were expected to immediately respond to any text response by a member or their dates.
Pledges had to set up and tear down for the dance.
Alcohol was served to those under 21 at the event.
Pledges were also expected by the members to serve as “sober monitors” at parties, and clean up afterward.
According to the documents, at one point pledges were gathered together and had garbage thrown at them because members said they didn’t do a good enough job. The pledges then had to clean up that mess.
Other acts of “dehumanization” included making one pledge carry a pink teddy bear key chain and producing it whenever a member asked.
At the Dawn Dance a pledge admitted to forcibly kissing a woman in attendance. He later apologized to her, saying he was drunk at the time.
When university officials were informed of the hazing, members sent multiple text messages telling pledges to lie and deny the allegations. In one, a member indicated, that this approach had worked in the past. (All names of students were redacted in the document provided.)
After an investigation, the chapter was suspended. An appeal was denied.
In order to return the fraternity must submit a plan spelling out how to avoid such instances in the future.
