TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — Pledges at a University of Arizona fraternity were slapped, yelled at and made to drink beer until they vomited, according to a police investigation.
Sigma Phi Epsilon came under scrutiny after several violations of campus policies were reported in the fall semester, many involving alcohol.
The university police’s investigative report, obtained by the Arizona Daily Star through a public-records request, details 15 hazing incidents that ended with Sigma Phi getting booted from campus for three years.
The police report paints a picture of a fraternity out of control.
When one pledge acted in what members thought was disrespectful way, a dozen pledges were lined up and slapped one by one. When a pledge ducked to avoid a slap, he was hit a second time and then had his shirt ripped off.
The police report also says on Fridays, underage pledges were forced to drink beer while they practices singing traditional fraternity songs until they vomited, with garbage cans put out for them to use.
After they finished vomiting, the pledges would have to resume singing and drinking, according to the investigation.
The investigation also concluded that the atmosphere at the frat house set the stage for an unregulated off-campus party at which a UA student reported being sexually assaulted in a pledge’s apartment after she was given a date-rape drug.
The former president of the fraternity, Tyler Babcock, said the UA investigation took events out of context and that no hazing occurred.
“The university drew an image of us being rowdy, crazy kids that are running around and partying,” he said. “It was a very organized house, and all the kids in the house are great kids.”
He said that none of the pledges was required to participate in the events.
“There was no real hazing,” he said. “Everybody was always given the choice, and the choices were not detrimental to active status in the house.”
Multiple requests for comment from the fraternity’s national headquarters went unanswered.
It’s unclear whether the university punished any members of the fraternity or if there were any sanctions against it other than losing recognition on campus until 2012.
The identities of students interviewed by UA officials were blacked out of the copies of the investigation the Star obtained.
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Information from: the Arizona Daily Star,
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.
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