RALEIGH, N.C. — North Carolina State University in Raleigh, N.C., has suspended its Sigma Nu fraternity chapter while two separate inquiries into hazing move forward, one by the school under its student conduct code and a criminal one by NC State University Police.
The trouble surfaced earlier in October. The university’s crime log shows campus police took an anonymous tip that an unnamed fraternity was hazing members with date rape drugs. Police are now investigating Sigma Nu, and the chapter is on interim suspension pending the outcome. Neither the university nor its police department would say more about where the cases stand.
Sigma Nu holds a long place in campus Greek life. Its Beta Tau chapter dates to a charter granted in 1895, and campus Interfraternity Council records list it as the longest-standing fraternity on the Raleigh campus.
In a statement, the university said it does not tolerate hazing and that student safety and wellbeing come first. It said fraternities are expected to follow university policy and urged anyone with concerns to report them.
The fraternity’s national office in Lexington, Virginia, said Sigma Nu was founded in opposition to hazing. It said both the national group and the university have halted the Beta Tau chapter’s activities until the investigation is complete, that it will keep cooperating with NC State, and that any chapter or member found responsible will face the fraternity’s disciplinary process.
The Sigma Nu case is not the only one on the books. Eight other NC State fraternities are under disciplinary sanctions, mostly for breaking alcohol or social event rules.
Members of Greek organizations at the school are required to complete anti-hazing training modules each semester. Nationally, the Hazing Prevention Network reports that 55% of college students who belong to Greek groups, teams and other campus organizations have experienced hazing, and 71% of students who saw hazing said alcohol played a part.
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