UPDATE: Rutgers suspends Sigma Gamma Rho chapter in wake of hazing investigation

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The university’s chapter of the Sigma Gamma Rho sorority will remain suspended pending an investigation into charges that six members hazed and paddled a group of prospective pledges earlier this month, officials said Wednesday.

The students, ages 20 and 21, also are accused of restricting the alleged victims’ eating over several days, officials said. The six members have been charged with aggravated hazing, a fourth-degree indictable crime.

At least one instance occurred in a New Brunswick apartment, although others may have taken place outside Middlesex County, police and university officials said. They could not immediately say when the alleged hazing took place.

Administrators learned of one alleged victim on Tuesday, and subsequently found that six members of the chapter were responsible for the hazing, Greg Blimling, vice president for student affairs, said Wednesday. He said police found that there was more than one incident, and that another was planned.

“The university decided to move quickly because it came to our attention that there was going to be another session with the same group of women last night,” Blimling said. “And we wanted to intervene quickly before another student was injured.”

Arrested Tuesday were Vanessa Adegbite, 21, of Jersey City; Kesha Cheron, 20, of Newark; Ilana Warner, 20, of the Bronx; and Joana Bernard, 21, of West Orange. Shawna Ebanks of East Orange and Marie Charles of West Orange, both 21, were arrested Wednesday.

All six are free after posting $1,500 bail, according to a records official at the Middlesex County Adult Correction Center in North Brunswick.

The six undergraduates could face disciplinary action, including expulsion, under the university’s code of student conduct if they’re found to have engaged in hazing, according to a university statement.

None of the alleged victims is a first-year student, Blimling said. Police said the injuries caused were significant enough to prompt at least one to seek medical attention.

Investigators were still trying Wednesday to determine the exact number of alleged victims. Officials declined to provide other details while the probe is ongoing.

The university has contacted the North Carolina-based Sigma Gamma Rho national organization, which has issued a “”cease and desist” letter to the New Brunswick chapter, ordering it to stop all sorority-related functions.

The incident occurred outside of the recognized pledging period for Greek organizations and did not fall within university guidelines, Blimling said. He added that Rutgers has a “very structured” and zero-tolerance hazing policy, and that students are required to sign documents acknowledging that they won’t engage in the practice.

An attorney representing the sorority said the organization took “immediate action” after learning of the charges Wednesday morning. He also said the national headquarters is cooperating with the investigation and plans to reach out to the alleged victims.

“Sigma Gamma Rho is a national sorority with a rich history of service throughout the world,” said Jonathan Charleston, general counsel for the organization. And what’s been alleged is not indicative of what the sorority stands for.”

Blimling said he didn’t know of any past hazing allegations against Sigma Gamma Rho.

“They have a good national reputation and they have a good local reputation, and this came as a surprise,” he said.

The organization is one of 72 fraternity and sorority chapters at Rutgers and was chartered in 1978, according to its Web site. The national organization was founded in 1922.

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