Univ. of South Florida suspends Omega Psi Phi as police investigate hazing allegations

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The University of South Florida chapter of the Omega Psi Phi fraternity has been suspended while detectives investigate allegations of off-campus hazing, university officials said Monday.

Tampa police said the alleged hazing took place at 11:30 p.m. on Aug. 22 and 23 at an address on W Busch Boulevard.

Police received a report about the incident Friday night and detectives have since conducted “numerous interviews,” Tampa police spokeswoman Laura McElroy said.

“We are investigating to determine if a crime occurred,” she said. None of the suspects are current USF students, no arrests have been made and the investigation is expected to take several more days, police said.

No one received medical treatment as the result of the incident, McElroy said. But neither she nor USF spokeswoman Lara Wade would say what the nature of the complaint was.

University students, faculty and staff learned of the investigation late Monday afternoon in an e-mail from USF system president Judy Genshaft. The e-mail did not initially identify the fraternity, which set the campus abuzz.

“That was kind of a shock,” said student body vice president Spencer Montgomery, 22, a senior majoring in communication. “I was sitting at my desk (when the e-mail arrived) and it was like, whoa.”

As soon as administrators learned of the allegations, USF took what Genshaft described as the “severest possible action.” The fraternity chapter in question was suspended and the chapter’s national organization was notified so that it could begin an investigation.

The suspension means that the chapter in question is not recognized on the campus. “They can’t meet, they can’t rent rooms, they can’t operate on this campus,” Wade said.

USF has 40 Greek organizations, only some of which have fraternity or sorority houses on campus.

While the police investigation is pending, USF will suspend any students involved in the incident, and “we will respond to all hazing incidents in the same way,” Genshaft wrote.

“Hazing is illegal,” she said in the e-mail. “It is against university policy, and it is totally unacceptable at USF.”

While Genshaft said USF’s Greek organizations provide rewarding and enriching experiences to students, she added that “unfortunately, this group held a secret off-campus meeting and violated the standards and policies of not only our university, but the rights of our students.”

This is not USF’s first incident of hazing.

In December 2006, the 70-member USF chapter of Lambda Chi Alpha shut down amid allegations of alcohol and hazing violations. The chapter had already been put on probation as a result of previous alcohol violations.

In 1999, Alpha Eta chapter of the Zeta Phi Beta sorority was suspended after pledges complained that they had been beaten with a wooden paddle severely enough to inflict bruises.

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