Florida and Maryland Frats Accused of Hazing

Fraternity Sanctioned for Hazing
Frat Accused of Hazing on Probation

By Patrick W. Connelly
Co-Editor, The Frat Boy News

Following a series of hazing allegations, fraternities at both the University of Florida and University of Maryland have been sanctioned while investigations continue.

Florida's Alpha Tau Omega was placed on probation through the fall of 2008 after a response to allegations the fraternity held a late night "line up" in which pledges were forced to jump into a mud pit when incorrectly answering a question about the chapter's history.

Maryland's chapter of Zeta Beta Tau is facing disciplinary actions for hazing during its initiation ceremony. Pledges were placed in a circle and asked to name the fraternity's founders, the university's student newspaper reported.

In this case if the pledges answered incorrectly, water was dumped on their heads, the newspaper said. One pledge allegedly had 'Shout,' a stain remover used to clean laundry, poured on his head when he missed a founder's name.

"There were a lot of rumors flying around campus," Zeta Beta Tau's Executive Director Jonathan Yulish said. "(The pledge) wasn't blinded. He didn't have chemicals poured in his eye."

Maryland is investigating the chapter's hazing allegations, while its national headquarters has already sanctioned the brothers for violating its policies. The executive board members of the Zeta Beta Tau chapter were removed from their offices and placed on probation that will last through the entirety of their undergraduate careers.

In addition, the chapter must also pay for the hazing investigation and fund an anti-hazing brochure and speaker.

Alpha Tau Omega at Florida was also suspended from hosting social events through the spring of 2008 and each members must complete five hours of community service.

Rider Closes ZBT Chapter

Second Frat Shut Down at Rider

By Patrick W. Connelly
Co-Editor, The Frat Boy News

Rider University has closed its second fraternity in less than a year.

The university's chapter of Zeta Beta Tau was shut down last week. The fraternity had violated campus policies and was serving a probation sentence, university officials said.

Zeta Beta Tau brothers were told they can no longer live in their chapter's house and will be forced to move into campus housing for the spring semester.

The fraternity joins Phi Kappa Tau as the second such organization to be shut down by the university since last spring.

Rider closed Phi Kappa Tau following the suspected hazing in the death of freshman pledge Gary DeVercelly Jr., who had drank a large amount of alcohol. Its chapter president said hazing wasn't involved in DeVercelly's death.

Pikes and ZBT Suspended at Northridge

Two CSUN Frat Houses Shut Down

Two fraternities at California State University in Northridge were ordered last week to clear brothers from their houses by the end of the month.

The city of Northridge told the brothers of Zeta Beta Tau and Pi Kappa Alpha fraternities to leave their houses because of disturbances they have caused in their neighborhoods.

The houses are rented by each of the fraternities and are currently for sale. The city did the same thing to Pi Kappa Phi in 2002, a report said.

Over 100 Ball State Students Already Busted for Drinking

The Frat Boy News Daily Police Report

Ball State University (compiled by Chris Sutter, Newslink Indiana)

Over 100 students have been arrested on the Ball State University campus since the beginning of the school year. Gene Burton, Public Safety Director for Ball State said, "the past two weekends, from my point of view, they've been fairly typical first weekends of the academic year."

Zeta Beta Tau was a fraternity that felt the hardest impact of Ball State's crackdown. President Nathan Elsworth said his frat was nearly shut down due to the number of underage drinkers.

"There were some people that went back to the dorms and they were questioned and I guess drew all those questions and basically came back and mentioned us and from what I know the police were called right away and they were here I guess in a few minutes," Elsworth said.

Kaytee Bryns was one of those students partying on frat row. She said the tactics the BSU police Department used were unbelievable.

"Me and my roommate came home and just decided to go to bed because we had been drinking...obviously...and we were woken up about an hour later by the RA's [resident assistants] and then by the cops and they made us blow and then wrote us tickets and told us to go back to bed. So we woke up in the morning to tickets...thinking it was a bad nightmare," Bryns said.

The BSU sophomore says she has hired a lawyer, and plans to deal with the unorthodox policing used in issuing her a ticket for underage drinking. Until then, she plans on a lot of alcohol-free nights in her Ball State dorm room.

Ball State Suspends Zeta Beta Tau Chapter

Ball State Suspends Zeta Beta Tau's Activities

More than 70 students at Ball State University were arrested in alcohol related incident this past weekend and one fraternity was suspended after college police said it harbored underage drinking.

The university's chapter of Zeta Beta Tau was suspended following the bust of a party at their house around 2 a.m. Sunday.

"As of right now there is no drinking in the house even if you are over 21 and we've asked out brothers not to go to any house parties or anything until we can take care of this on our own hopefully," said Nathan Elsworth, the fraternity's president.

The university issued a letter to the fraternity on Monday suspending all brotherhood activities pending an investigation.

Maryland's Zeta Beta Tau Brothers Share More Than Just Their Fraternal Bond

Brothers in Arms

Brothers of the traditionally Jewish fraternity Zeta Beta Tau at the University of Maryland have found that they always have a place to celebrate the holidays of their religion, thanks to their strong bond of brotherhood.

"I had three or four guys home this Passover," David Enghorn, a brother of the fraternity, told a local newspaper. "My parents say that if any of the guys are looking for a place to celebrate the holidays, they can come to our house. The frat can be a network for people who don't have a place to go for the holidays."

Enghorn's biological brothers Brendan, Jeff and Scott were also brothers of Zeta Beta Tau at Maryland and are all pictured to the right.

Northwestern Greeks Get Active with Unique Philanthropy Events

Greek Beat

Greeks at Northwestern University in Chicago have planned several unique philanthropy events for the month of May.

Last weekend, the sisters of Alpha Chi Omega and the brothers of Phi Kappa Psi sponsored a treasure hunt beach party to benefit a shelter for battered women.

"It was a little cold so we wound up ending a little early. ... But everyone seemed to enjoy it," one of the students who attended told Northwestern's student newspaper. The beach party had a performance by a band and free smoothies and raised about $1,700.

Kappa Alpha Theta sorority and the brothers of Chi Psi got wicked down for field games last weekend, raising about $1,000 for Court Appointed Speech Advocates with about 200 participants.

The brothers of Zeta Beta Tau are set to hold their annual Fence-In competition this weekend, where they put up a fence around their house's yard for a party. All cover charges gathered by fraternity brothers will benefit leukemia research.

CBS Hoops Sportscaster was Houston ZBT

Frat Guy of the Week: Jim Nantz

Jim Nantz, CBS Sports jack of all trades, was a brother of Zeta Beta Tau while a student at the University of Houston.

At Houston, Nantz majored in broadcasting and played on the golf team. He was a former roommate of professional golfer Fred Couples. After graduating in 1981, Nantz went on to work as an announcer for Brigham Young University and the Utah Jazz.

Nantz began working for CBS in 1985, and has since covered the NFL, the Masters, the Olympics, and the annual college basketball tournament.

Albany's Underground Frats Could Face Trouble

UAlbany Clamps Down on Underground Fraternities

Officials at the University of Albany don't like underground fraternities. Several of the campus' frats that have been kicked off campus in recent years, have kept their brotherhood in tact with non-affiliated groups behind closed doors.

In an effort to put an end to the underground frats, the university established a program where those groups could come forward to the school and be permitted to re-establish themselves legitimately on the campus.

In what Albany called "Amnesty Month," not one single group decided to come forward. The university took it upon themselves to contact 2 of the 4 suspected organizations national headquarters to begin new colonies at the school. However, under re-colonization, new members will be organized, and the current "underground" brothers would be considered to be disaffiliated.

"We haven't had a serious incident here with our unrecognized fraternities," said Albany's student activities director Michael Jaromin, "But we don't want to have one."

Numbers in the recognized frats at the college are less than half of what they were a decade ago. Officials said that the underground fraternities offer students benefits that the recognized frats can't - like pledging as a first-semester freshman and pledging with a GPA below 2.25. Plus, without any dues or insurance, the underground frats can simply spend their money on alcohol and parties.

"It's not really the number -- it's the quality of the parties," Ryan Kinney of Tau Kappa Epsilon, a legit Albany fraternity. "They just have excess funds, bigger bank rolls."

The fraternities the university believes to be operating illegal underground lifestyles are Sigma Alpha Mu, Zeta Beta Tau, Sigma Alpha Epsilon and Pi Kappa Phi.

Empty Frat House Catches Fire. Yes, Empty.

Tulane's Zeta Beta Tau house catches fire

Oddly enough, fraternity houses do catch fire when there aren't wild parties. A fire at the Zeta Beta Tau house on Tulane's campus broke out early Saturday morning. Luckily, none of the brothers were in the house at the time, as Tulane was still on hiatus for winter break. Police said it was the second fire at a frat house in less than a week.