TUCSON, AZ (AZFamily) — The University of Arizona suspended six fraternities and hit pause on all fraternity activities, citing a wave of misconduct investigations—including physical assault, hazing, drugs and alcohol—in nearly half of its chapters.
In an internal memo obtained by Arizona’s Family, Chrissy Lieberman, the university’s dean of students, said her office is investigating multiple reports of misconduct involving nearly half of the 21 fraternities on campus.
The violations range from physical assault, drugs and alcohol, hazing and creating unsafe environments for students, according to Lieberman.
Effective immediately, all fraternity chapters are under interim activities suspension until all chapter advisers have met with the Dean.
Six fraternities, including Zeta Beta Tau, Sigma Phi Epsilon, Phi Delta Theta, Sigma Chi, Theta Xi and Phi Gamma Delta, are suspended immediately.
Students react
“Kind of blindsided by all of it,” said Parker, a junior at the University of Arizona and a member of Sigma Phi Epsilon. “The brotherhoods at this type of school and each fraternity, everyone is such a genuine good guy, and I’ve never seen any negative aspects here.”
There are 21 fraternities at U of A, and activities for all of them are paused because the Dean of Students said the “number of cases under investigation and the severity of the concerns is egregious.”
“It’s a little upsetting to know that actually happening on campus and that so many people probably just let it go by because they’re in a fraternity,” said Mia Cazares, a senior at the University of Arizona.
The letter sent to the entire Greek Life community on Oct. 5 says many chapters were already on disciplinary status and the “alleged behaviors range from physical assault, drugs and alcohol, hazing, and creating unsafe environments for our students.”
“I never got hazed. No one that I know, my big, my g-big, none of them got hazed. That just hasn’t been the culture at Sig Ep ever from when I’ve been here,” said Parker.
Fraternities are now prohibited from hosting any organizational events. An internal memo says six chapters are suspended immediately, but it doesn’t specify why. Parker’s chapter is one of them.
“I can’t speak on all the other houses, I just know Sig Ep has no part to do with any of those allegations,” he said.
For the chapters in good standing, the activities suspension will be lifted after chapter advisors meet with the dean of students.
“It’s really alarming, and I’m glad, I’m so glad that people are reporting it,” said Jolayne Houtz, the founder of Hazinginfo.org, a national database that tracks college hazing incidents. “It seems that community members and students and families are stepping up, are demanding action and are not okay with the hazing that’s going on.”
The mission for Houtz was born out of her own personal tragedy after her son Sam Martinez was killed in a hazing incident at Washington State University in 2019.
“It’s incredibly painful,” she said.
Other hazing incidents reported across AZ
Last week a fraternity leader at NAU was sentenced to 60 days in jail after a hazing incident led to a pledge’s death. A civil lawsuit led to a reopened investigation and protests at Cornell where fraternity members are accused of gang rape.
“Fraternities have a long history of engaging in abusive behaviors of all sorts. This isn’t something that’s new,” said John Delatorre, a forensic psychologist.
Delatorre says the current scrutiny on Greek Life likely contributes to U of A’s decision to take this action.
“U of A’s decision sounds more of ‘Hey, let’s try to get in front of something’ as opposed to we’re really trying to, I don’t know, fix and change Greek society as a whole,” said Delatorre.
In recent years, there have been a push of legislation and other awareness campaigns around hazing.
In 2022, Arizona passed “Jack’s Law,” named for Jack Culolias, who died after drinking too much at an Arizona State University fraternity pledge event. The law criminalized hazing in the state.
In 2024, Congress passed the Stop Campus Hazing Act, which requires universities and colleges that participate in federal student aid programs to report hazing incidents.
“The problem is getting worse, and we’ve had a million meetings with all of the fraternity members,” said David Bianchi, an attorney who represents hazing victims. “We’ve adopted all kinds of rules, regulations and laws to no effect. And the problem is worse, and therefore, it’s time to go to plan B. And for that, you’ve got to expel these guys immediately when it happens. And prosecutors have to file criminal charges immediately.”
Houtz believes more accountability should be placed on universities, colleges and national organizations when it comes to hazing, and that more guidance should be given to students, whether they are part of a Greek life organization, sports team or other club, about previous hazing incidents, if there have been any.
“I think there are very good fraternities and very good sororities out there, but they are not all good ones,” Houtz said.
Mandatory meetings with chapter advisors
An activities suspension prohibits the fraternities from hosting, attending, sponsoring and participating in any organizational activities. Only business meetings are allowed during the suspension.
Once a chapter adviser has attended one of the three mandatory meetings, chapters that were in good standing will resume as normal.
Meetings are scheduled for the following dates:
Tuesday, Oct. 6 at 6 p.m. at Bear Down Gym, room 104Wednesday. Oct. 7 at 8 a.m. at Bear Down Gym, room 104Monday, Oct. 12 at 12 p.m. at Nugent 100
Chapters with upcoming events must ensure that their adviser attends a mandatory meeting. The chapter must return to good standing before any event can be hosted.
Advisor meetings will continue quarterly, and advisers must attend each meeting. If an adviser doesn’t attend, the chapter will be removed from good standing, putting it in jeopardy of continuing.
President met with fraternities
University President Suresh Garimella met with all fraternity presidents on Aug. 27, where he said that the university would not “tolerate further violations that put our students in harm’s way.”
University leadership told fraternity leadership to “step up and be accountable for the men in their chapters” and stop behaviors that violated the school’s code of conduct.
“It was made clear that if the chapters did not meet this expectation, the university would be forced to act,” Lieberman wrote in the memo, dated Monday.
Cases at capacity
Lieberman said reports continue to pour in about concerns within the fraternities, including from parents, students and the community.
The Dean of Students Office is at capacity for the number of cases its staff can investigate at once, and every case involved a fraternity chapter, Lieberman said.
“As you know, the value of the Greek experience is under scrutiny nationwide. It is time for the University of Arizona Greek community to step up and set an example for good. It is time to have difficult conversations with each other and the members of the community,” a portion of the memo stated.
The Dean of Students Office will investigate the allegations alongside the University of Arizona Police Department.
Swallowing live goldfish, hazing, blackout allegations
Several chapters were deemed responsible for code of conduct violations this spring and remain on disciplinary status, according to the Dean of Students Office. Some chapters are on active suspension, while others are banned from working with their new member classes.
Some severe cases are under criminal investigation, according to officials.
Last month, Sigma Tau Gamma was placed on activities suspension after being accused of forcing members to drink large amounts of alcohol and swallowing live goldfish.
Arizona’s Family sister station, KOLD News 13, previously reported in April that six fraternities were under investigation by the school. Three of them, Sigma Alpha Mu, Sigma Chi, and Phi Delta Theta, faced serious allegations.
The allegations against Sigma Alpha Mu include burns from hot liquids, forced alcohol consumption, alcohol poisoning, blackouts and hospitalizations. Sigma Chi allegedly hosted a party that was alcohol-free, but alcohol was consumed, drugs were knowingly and unknowingly given to members, and multiple people were hospitalized.
Phi Delta Theta was placed on suspension for hazing, where members were allegedly subjected to forced alcohol consumption, degradation, humiliation, and other threatening and endangering behaviors.
Another fraternity, Sigma Phi Epsilon, was placed on probation until May 31, 2027, and must pay a fine of nearly $4,000. The accusations against the fraternity included sleep deprivation, forced alcohol consumption, kidnapping, and forced calisthenics. Members were also accused of illegal drug use.
The last time the university cut ties with a fraternity was in 2024, when Pi Kappa Phi was found guilty of hazing and violating the school’s code of conduct.
KOLD News 13 staff and reporter Payton May contributed to this report.
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