Uni frats are in damage control

Young women hold letters symbolising Kappa Delta Rho, the fraternity suspended after members posted photos of women in compromising, often sexual positions. Source: Supplied

THESE are dark days for the American college system.

Pennsylvania State University this week suspended fraternity Kappa Delta Rho after it was revealed members were taking photographs of naked, sleeping women and posting them online.

Elsewhere, the University of Houston fraternity Sigma Chi was suspended following allegations of hazing — which is the harassment, abuse or humiliation of new recruits during initiation.

And the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity yesterday promised to implement diversity initiatives across its 237 chapters after video emerged of members of the University of Oklahoma chapter signing a racist song promoting the lynching of "n***ers". So incensed were fellow students that they spraypainted "tear it down" on Sigma Alpha Epsilon house.

All that happened in less than a week.

The most recent indiscretions, though concerning, are nothing new. They point to a culture problem within US universities that had some this week asking "do fraternities make men behave badly?"

PENN STATE FRAT BOYS DUBBED "SAD, OFFENSIVE"

Kappa Delta Rho. Picture: Christopher Weddle / Centre Daily Times Source: AP

The Penn State University frat in question. Picture: Gene J Puskar / AP Source: AP

Penn State University has 50 fraternities. Picture: Christopher Weddle Source: AP

In the case of Pennsylvania State University, known simply as Penn State, fraternity members used Facebook to post photos of nude or partly-nude women, many asleep or passed out. A former student told news.com.au that "frat culture is ingrained" there.

The university's president Eric Barron said members of Kappa Delta Rho faced possible expulsion.

"I can't imagine anybody that's not appalled by the alleged behaviour," he said.

It is appalling, but it is also now a police matter, following a tip-off about the page on January 18 by a former fraternity member.

Local police said they are investigating allegations that the fraternity operated a private Facebook page with 144 active members, many of whom were current students and alumni of the university.

Police said a number of the photos were taken when women were unaware and in sexual or embarrassing positions and that at least two photos could lead to criminal charges.

Penn State is home to 40,000 students and 50 fraternities. Of those, there are about 4000 members.

Mr Barron said some men "not doing smart things" are ruining the reputation of other "very fine young men".

It is alleged the Facebook page was set up after a similar page run by the fraternity was earlier shut down.

'HAZING IS SO FAR REMOVED FROM THE PRINCIPLES WE BELIEVE IN'

Men walk into the Sigma Chi fraternity house after the University of Houston suspended the fraternity Wednesday, March 18, 2015. Picture: David J. Phillip / AP Source: AP

The Epsilon Xi chapter of the Sigma Chi fraternity at the University of Houston did something this week that fraternities have been doing for decades. The problem is people started realising it was wrong years ago.

They "hazed" their fellow students and, though the nature of the hazing was not disclosed, it was serious enough that the University's president imposed an immediate suspension and police launched an investigation.

UH president Renu Khator said in a statement on the university's website that he was "shocked, dismayed and deeply disappointed that allegations of this nature have arisen on our campus.

"Let me be clear, hazing is a criminal act, and consent is not a defence. Failure to report hazing also is a criminal offence and a violation of University policy. Those who engage in such reckless and immature behaviour will be punished to the full extent of the law," he said.

Under Texas law, hazing is a class B misdemeanour and conviction carries a six-month jail sentence. The sentence can be doubled if the hazing causes serious bodily injury.

It's not the first time Sigma Chi has been accused of improper conduct.

The Illinois-based headquarters of Sigma Chi said it learned on January 20 of allegations "of inappropriate pledging activities" at its Houston chapter, indefinitely suspended the chapter the next day pending the outcome of its own investigation and informed university officials.

Last week, the Sigma Chi chapter at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri, was suspended for improper activities that included hazing.

STUDENTS SPRAY-PAINT 'TEAR IT DOWN' ON 'RACIST' FRATERNITY HOUSE

A UNIVERSITY fraternity has been shut down after members were filmed chanting racist slurs and glorifying lynching.

Things get worse the deeper you look. In Oklahoma, members of a local chapter of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity were filmed signing a racist song that glorified lynching.

The video shows men, reportedly members of the fraternity, dressed in tuxedos on a bus declaring there will never be a black member of their Greek fraternity. Others clap along.

The University's president shut the fraternity house down immediately and expelled freshmen Levi Pettit and Parker Rice, who were identified as ringleaders," the Chicago Tribune reports.

More than a week after the video surfaced, the directors of the fraternity held a news conference condemning those in the video as "ugly".

Blaine Ayers, executive director of Sigma Alpha Epsilon said the group was "absolutely" going against the values of SAE.

Sigma Alpha Epsilon Fraternity Executive Director Blane Ayers promised things will change. Picture: M. Spencer Green / AP Source: AP

"The words were offensive and harmful, and now we must begin the task of seeking forgiveness and taking steps to ensure this never happens again," he said.

"We are committed to having the tough conversations in every chapter, with every member."

Ayers announced a four-part diversity initiative that includes hiring a director of diversity, creating a mandatory diversity program, appointing a diversity and inclusion committee, and establishing a confidential SAE hotline.

Will it be enough to undo the damage already done? Probably not.

The outrage was so fierce against the fraternity that fellow students spray-painted "tear it down" on the house wall, the Oklahoma football team walked in protest and students, teachers and even the college statue donned taped over their mouths with the words "UNHEARD".

The "Sower" statue with the word "UNHEARD" written on red tape. Picture: Brett Deering / Getty Source: AFP

Professor George Henderson in support of black students. Picture: Steve Sisney / AP Source: AP

The White House even made comments about the incident.

THE WORST FRATERNITIES IN AMERICA

Rolling Stone named the "most out of control fraternities in America" in 2013 following a string of unsavoury incidents "from over-the-top racism and hazing deaths to sexual assaults and caches of automatic weapons".

The magazine reported that between 2005-2013, 59 students died in frat-related incidents. Ten were killed in 2012. Since then, two more students have died.

Armando Villa from California State University's Pi Kappa Phi died on July 1 last year when, according to the New York Daily News, he was forced to hike barefoot with no water through a national forest.

Nolan Burch from West Virginia University's Kappa Sigma died in November last year from alcohol poisoning. His blood alcohol content was reportedly .493. NBC News reported that Burch and 19 other pledges were blindfolded and given an entire bottle of alcohol.

Among the other fraternities shamed in the Rolling Stone piece were Pi Kappa Alpha's Florida International University chapter which used its Facebook page to sell drugs, Alpha Gamma Rho's Arkansas State University chapter which was found with guns and drugs and Sigma Alpha Epsilon's University of New Mexico chapter which was linked to rape of underage girls, hazing and damaged property.

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