Wilmington College, a small school of about 1,000 undergraduates, has suspended Gamma Phi Gamma in the past for hazing and has apparently had enough. Deciding to never again recognize the frat as a campus organization is the college's harshest penalty, the Dayton Daily News reports.
The details of the incident are shocking. The Smoking Gun has posted the search warrant affidavit, which describes the bizarre hazing ritual.
Pledges were allegedly forced into a flooded basement while blindfolded and forced to swim in the water and strip completely naked. Then, frat members allegedly put a substance similar to "Icy Hot" on the pledges' nipples, back, butt, and scrotum.
The pledges' mouths were then reportedly stuffed with Limburger cheese, which is known for its pungent odor. Once the pledges spat out the cheese, the affidavit said, they were given a ball of stuffing and told to simulate sex with it.
Next, frat members allegedly fashioned "weapons" out of towels with knots tied on the ends and pain-inflicting items stuffed inside. One frat member allegedly struck a pledge in the testicles, which caused him to fall to the ground in pain, according to the affidavit.
That pledge was forced to get up and continue the hazing, according to the affidavit. Frat members then allegedly stuffed vinegar-soaked bananas into pledges' mouths and told them it was feces.
After the hazing ritual was over, the pledge who was hit in the testicles with the towel-weapon complained of intense pain. He went to a hospital, where doctors had to surgically remove his testicle because of the damage inflicted by the towel.
Wilmington College's hazing policy is somewhat vague about punishment for offenders, saying only that student organizations "may receive a range of sanctions, including probation status, fines, community service, educational sanctions, suspension of the group, or loss of recognition and association privileges as a College organization."
The school's president has not said whether the school will discipline individual frat members, 20 of whom are said to have watched or participated in the hazing.
All frat members at Wilmington must complete anti-hazing education before the start of rush season, according to WCPO.