A University of Arizona fraternity won’t be partying any time soon after pledges were reportedly forced to eat live goldfish and guzzle massive amounts of alcohol.
New members of Sigma Tau Gamma fraternity “were subjected to hazing,” reads a disciplinary letter from school president Suresh Garimella to the fraternity, local KOLD reported.
As part of the Sigma Tau Gamma initiation ritual, baby Bearcats pledges were forced to swallow goldfish, chug booze and were also “subjected to screaming, degradation and threats from active members” of the frat, according to the letter.
University officials placed Sigma Tau Gamma on “activities suspension” Friday in the wake of the allegations.
Activities suspension forbids “hosting, attending, participating, and sponsoring any organizational activities until the final disposition of this case,” the university said. Only club business meetings are allowed. It was not immediately clear how long the suspension will span.
Frat members will be required to meet with university officials to discuss the allegations, the outlet reported.
Pledging season is in full swing in the nation’s major universities.
Around 30 partially clothed wannabe members of Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity were found fully clothed smeared in condiments and huddled in a sweltering, filthy basement of a home at the University of Wisconsin on Sept. 23.
Frat president Brayden Klein and veep Samuel Vane, both 20, were arrested for misdemeanor hazing and misdemeanor disorderly conduct in connection to the creepy scene.
“UW–Madison is fully committed to preventing and addressing hazing and takes all incidents involving our community seriously,” the university said in a statement Thursday.
It is not clear whether the organizers of the University of Arizona Sigma Tau Gamma chapter will face any discipline.
Neither the University of Arizona nor Sigma Tau Gamma responded to request for comment.
