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Lehigh University has suspended the Kappa Sigma fraternity through July 2019 following multiple alcohol-related code of conduct violations at its frat house. The fraternity was written up for three separate incidents this spring. During one of those incidents, more than 40 students received citations for underage drinking.
On February 15, a student with a BAC level of 0.22 walked into another student’s room and vomited on the floor. When he arrived at St. Luke’s hospital, he said he drank beer and grain alcohol at the fraternity house.
The following month, on March 1, Kappa Sigma had new members carry “pledge packs.” When university police arrived, active members of the fraternity lied about the identity of a member. During this instance, police detected an odor of alcohol on an underage brother.
On April 22, more than 40 students received citations for underage drinking, with another student requiring emergency medical assistance, after an off-campus party hosted by Kappa Sigma.
via The Morning Call:
The decision means the fraternity can’t use its frat house, school facilities or equipment. If students continue as an underground group, they could jeopardize or delay the fraternity’s return to campus, according to a blog run by Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs. The chapter can appeal the decision, and can seek approval to have its recognition restored at the end of the suspension.
Kappa Sigma’s suspension comes three months after the university issued a campus-wide message warning about excessive student drinking and increased police patrols. The university said four students nearly died after drinking excessively.
Christopher Mulvihill, an interim associate dean at Lehigh, said the dissolution was based on the fraternity’s disciplinary record and actions. The fraternity had been on deferred dissolution for the majority of the previous 18 months
The Lehigh University disciplinary committee said that fraternity members admitted to underage drinking occurred at a party and that there was also hard alcohol present.
