Ohio State University suspended 37 fraternities on campus - the most aggressive move yet in the rush for colleges to crack down on hazing
- Ohio State University suspended 37 fraternities, pointing to hazing and alcohol violations.
- No sororities were suspended.
- Eleven fraternities had been under investigation since the start of the school year.
The Ohio State University suspended 37 fraternities organizations from campus Thursday, citing instances of hazing and alcohol, WOSU Public Media reported.
The suspension includes any social activities and recruitment of new members. The 17 sororities on campus are not part of the suspension.
A spokesperson for Ohio State said that 11 fraternities had been under investigation since the start of the fall semester.
"[Eleven] of the 37 IFC chapters have been under investigation since the school year began," spokesperson Dave Isaacs told WOSU. "The majority of these cases involve hazing and/or alcohol. The university will not tolerate behavior that puts the health and safety of its students at risk."
Between 2011 and 2015, Ohio State suspended or disciplined 10 fraternities for hazing, Ohio State's student paper The Lantern reported.
The suspensions at Ohio State seems to be the most aggressive move yet by a college to crack down on fraternity hazing. Other universities have issued sweeping bans on Greek life, but they have come after a pledge has died in a drinking-related incident. Ohio State's ban is surprising both in its size and the fact that it stemmed from an investigation into the greater culture of fraternities at the school.
Other big-name universities have current bans on Greek life.
Both Florida State University and Texas State University indefinitely suspended the activities of all Greek organizations after a pledge died on each campus.
Louisiana State University banned Greek organizations after a freshman named Maxwell Gruver, 18, died participating in a fraternity hazing game where he had to drink alcohol when he answered a question incorrectly.
And after a Penn State sophomore named Timothy Piazza, 19, died in February after a fraternity hazing event, university officials suspended fraternities and sororities from holding social activities during the spring semester. The Penn State Board of Trustees also passed a package of new rules designed to change Greek life.
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