The Delta Tau Delta IU chapter was suspended Monday after multiple reports of hazing, according to a statement from the Delts national office.
The suspension will last for five years, according to IFC President Andrew Cowie.
“There is no place for hazing in Delta Tau Delta. It is absolutely contrary to our values and will not be tolerated,” said Jim Russell, executive vice president of the national Fraternity. “The Fraternity is clear about its expectations.”
On Tuesday, IU released a statement saying it is in full agreement with the decision by the national chapter.
"Fraternities and sororities are an integral part of campus life, however, the university is committed to providing a safe educational environment for everyone and does not tolerate actions by any group or individual affiliated with the university that put this at risk," Lori Reesor, Vice Provost for Student Affairs, said.
Russell and other national officials of Delts addressed expected behavior and consequences for failing to meet these standards at a meeting with the IU chapter at the start of the 2016-2017 academic year. This meeting came after the chapter violated previous sanctions imposed by the national fraternity during the spring 2016 semester.
Members of the IU chapter declined to comment Monday, but Indiana Daily Student reporters heard music thumping from inside the North Jordan Avenue house Monday evening.
One brother walked into the house and would not comment on the chapter’s suspension.
“By the way,” he said, “I don’t think anyone is going to.”
The IU chapter of Delta Tau Delta was founded in 1870 and has operated continuously since 1887. In his statement, Russell did not detail the hazing incidents that lead to the suspension.
In March of 2015 the IU Police Department arrested former Delts member Andrew Thrall on charges of dealing a scheduled drug after Thrall was reportedly shipping Xanax pills from Canada to his girlfriend’s sorority house, Alpha Chi Omega.
Following the arrest, IUPD officers served a search warrant through the Delts house and found one capsule of ecstasy, a small amount of LSD and some marijuana edibles in Thrall’s room.
In September 2015, former Delts member John Enochs, then 21, was charged with two rapes occurring two years apart. The first occurred in October of 2013 and the second allegedly took place in April of 2015. At both times, Enochs was an IU student and a member of Delts. Last summer a court dropped the charges to misdemeanor charges. After taking a plea deal, Enochs did not serve jail time.
According to the Delts website, the IU chapter lost 45 percent of its members in 2015 following a social probation. The 2015 report did not indicate whether or not the Thrall and Enochs cases affected the probation or expulsion of members.
