A fraternity at Florida International University has been booted from campus for some grade-A frat-tastic behavior. Via our sister paper Miami New Times, the school's chapter of Pi Kappa Alpha has come under fire after the group's private Facebook page went public. Posts showed members openly talking about dealing drugs and sharing pictures of nude women. There was also plenty of idiotic, Animal House-style boasting.
But while FIU's Pikes are sweating now under the spotlight, earlier this year their brothers in Boca Raton were also under some heat. The administration at Florida Atlantic University suspended that school's chapter after an off-campus fight and allegations of hazing, then relented and opted to punish a single student.
Update II: FAU has clarified that the fraternity was in fact punished following the incident. Details below.
Update: Turns out, a Pike chapter is also responsible for one of the best-known instances of college buffoonery as of late: the infamous University of Tennessee "butt chugging" scandal.
As we reported this spring, on February 22, a fight broke out on the dance floor of Club Oasis in Boca Raton. When police began asking questions later that night, a Pi Kappa Alpha pledge told police he'd been beaten by a gang of frat brothers.
When word leaked that Greek life might have been responsible for the incident, the school suspended the chapter, telling BocaNewsNow that "Hazing, or any act related to it, is unacceptable, illegal, and will not be tolerated."
Later, FAU changed course and decided that instead of punishing the whole organization, handed a punishment to one member -- Matthew Bondit: a two-year suspension.
It didn't matter that, while defending himself in school proceedings, Bondi produced witnesses who challenged the hazing claim. Bondi and his witnesses told the school's Student Conduct Board that the supposed "victim" had been the drunken aggressor. No matter. Bondi went down, while his frat got off.
The overboard punishment left the college student with no option but to forget about returning to the school.
Update II: FAU Spokesperson Lisa Metcalf tells New Times the school's Pike chapter was actually "punished significantly" for the above incident. Via an email:
FAU did not "change course" with respect to the chapter. As a matter of standard practice, FAU's Division of Student Affairs interim suspends an organization when serious charges of violation of the student conduct code have been alleged, pending an investigation to determine if charges should be brought against the organization or individual members. Once an investigation is completed, the student disciplinary process determines the appropriate level of sanction to be imposed against an organization or student found responsible for violating the code.Miami New Times also reports that Pike frats have been in trouble at nearly every major college in the state. The University of Florida suspended the organization in 2007 after three women suspected they were roofied at a barbecue. University of Miami's Pikes were suspended twice, in 2005 and 2011. In 1988, four Pikes at Florida State University were accused of rape. The chapter was suspended for ten years.That is exactly what happened in this case. The chapter was interim suspended while the charges were investigated and student disciplinary proceedings initiated. The chapter was not found to be directly responsible for the incident, so the suspension was removed, but its conduct was determined to warrant imposition of the following substantial sanctions: the chapter was placed on probation for three years, with automatic suspension if it violates any of the other conditions; it had to conduct and submit to the University a membership review; it had to develop a reorganization and revised recruitment plan for new members; 100 percent of the chapter's membership had to participate with the fraternity's national office in a Risk Management/Anti-Hazing Seminar; it must plan and present a Risk Management/Anti-Hazing Program for the entire Greek community during the Fall 2013 Hazing Prevention Week; and the chapter's executive officers must meet monthly over the next three years with the Associate Vice President and Dean of Students.
As FAU has clearly stated, hazing, or any act related to it, is unacceptable, illegal, and will not be tolerated. The inaccuracies in your column suggest otherwise and should be corrected immediately.
But the highest-profile incident involving a Pi Kappa Alpha chapter took place recently at the University of Tennessee. It involved some boxed wine, a kid named Xander Broughton, and alcohol enemas.
In fall 2012, Knoxville police showed up at the frat's house to find the 20-year-old Broughton passed out and bloody.
Reports later indicated that Broughton and other Pikes had been "butt-chugging" boxed wine, which means they were so desperate to get hammered that they were mainlining booze through the back door.
The student vehemently denied he was taking down (er, up?) alcohol in an enema. To save face, the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity all put on their Sunday best, hauled out a twanging Southern lawyer, and held what is probably the most hilarious news conference in the annals of public backpedaling. The UT chapter of Pi Kappa Alpha was "suspended indefinitely" from the campus.
Sure, there's nothing really linking UT's butt-chuggate with FIU's online escapades or any of the other reported incidents. But on the other hand, you've got to start wondering where the adults are in the national organization.
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