The University of Pittsburgh chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha has been suspended until further notice after allegations of hazing have surfaced and police investigate the conduct of the chapter.
These allegations come after a mother of one of the pledges noticed bruises on her daughter’s arm. She called the police after her daughter told her that she was involved in a hazing incident for AKA pledges. According to the pledges, they were taken to the basement of a private home about 10 miles away in Penn Hills.
As NBC News reports, the mother and daughter, as well as other pledges, met with the police but have not yet determined if a crime was committed. The Police Chief told CBS Pittsburgh, “During the course of [their time in the basement], they were maybe hit with a paddle of some sort,” Burton said. “We’ve got a lot of girls who don’t want to talk about it. If they don’t want to be victims there’s not a heck of a lot we can do with that.”
The Vice Provost and Dean of Students wrote a letter to Pitt students warning that this incident could affect the future of Greek Life on their campus and reiterating that the University prioritizes the mental and physical well-being of their students.
Because of Pitt’s Spring Break, the investigation will reportedly likely be delayed.
“We have placed our trust in you, as Pitt Panthers, to act responsibly, to treat others with respect, and to practice care and compassion for one another,” Bonner said in the letter. “We are a community that promotes mutual respect, dignity and genuine concern for the well-being and safety of others, and we will not tolerate behavior on our campus that directly opposes our most basic institutional values.”
He then commended students for coming forward with their concerns about hazing and promised to continue investigating allegations and make sure students are held accountable for their conduct.
Back in September, experts had found that hazing had reached epidemic levels on college campuses, following the news of Penn State student Tim Piazza’s hazing-related death, so this news comes less as a surprise and more of a disappointment.