Penn State Fraternity Sigma Pi Suspended For Hazing, But Continues To Operate Off-Campus
Following an inquiry into hazing, officials on Thursday, July 31, revealed that a fraternity at Penn State has been officially suspended from the university for a minimum of four years.
Penn State’s Sigma Pi fraternity.
Following an investigation by Penn State’s Office of Student Accountability and Conflict Response into several allegations of hazing and serious misbehavior starting in March 2025, the Sigma Pi fraternity was placed on indefinite organizational suspension, which took effect on Wednesday, July 17.
The university cited accusations of forced physical and emotional abuse, forced servitude, forced alcohol and other drug usage, and forced physical activity.
Sigma Pi voluntarily withdrew from university recognition before to the student conduct process’s end. After being determined to have violated the university’s hazing code, the chapter was suspended for a minimum of four years.
During conduct proceedings, Sigma Pi had the opportunity to submit recommendations for educational remediation; however, the process was terminated when the chapter decided to withdraw. Penn State ordered the indefinite suspension due to the seriousness of the misbehavior and the chapter’s choice not to take part in a sanctions process.
Sigma Pi consequently forfeits all of the benefits associated with officially recognized student groups, such as access to university resources, campus facilities, staff assistance, health and safety instruction, and events like Greek Sing, Homecoming, intramural sports, and THON.
With support from its global headquarters, Sigma Pi continues to function off-campus as an unofficial group in spite of the suspension. Now, outside of university supervision, its operations are conducted at a fraternity home that is privately owned.
Students and community members are being cautioned by Penn State not to interact with unaffiliated organizations. The university has limited authority to punish unidentified groups, even though it may still hold individual students accountable under the Student Code of Conduct. National headquarters and local law enforcement receive reports regarding these groups for consideration and possible action.
This brings to mind another tragedy at Penn State: in October 2024, former Beta Theta Pi leaders Brendan Young and Daniel Casey from New York were sentenced to prison time after admitting that their actions caused Timothy Piazza to die in 2017 after being pushed to drink eighteen drinks and then falling down basement stairs.To read our coverage of the case, click here.
