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A temporary suspension of Greek life activities on the University of Maryland’s campus has shone light on recent hazing allegations, court documents show.
The Maryland Attorney General’s Office on Friday filed a memorandum in opposition to a request from several UMD fraternities for a temporary restraining order against school officials following the March 1 suspension of Greek life activities, which is described as a “punishment” that “has denied college students their First and Fourteenth Amendment rights.”
The AG’s office, however, argued that UMD “was fully authorized pursuant to its Code of Student Conduct to impose limited, temporary restrictions on some chapter activities while it investigated serious and persistent allegations of hazing and alcohol abuse at multiple chapters which threatened the health and safety of its students.”
The school concluded its investigation on March 15 and lifted the suspension for most UMD fraternities and sororities, though five remain under investigation.
“[I]n fact they hit him in the face with a plastic bat and poured beer on him until he woke up,” the email author wrote.
UMD on Friday lifted a temporary suspension of Greek life activities that began on March 1 following hazing allegations. (Bonnie Jo Mount/The Washington Post)
On March 1, OSC received another anonymous message “from the mother of a new member of Fraternity 2 alleging hazing by the chapter, including locking new members in the basement and breaking glass on the floor for the new members to clean up.”
OSC further reviewed data from UMD’s Health and Counseling Centers and determined that there had been “a troubling uptick in visits to both Centers by IFC and PHA chapter members during the month of February.”
“Based on the totality of information received by the University as of March 1, and concerns about ongoing violations of the Code of Conduct relating to hazing and alcohol and drug use, OSC determined that immediate action was warranted to prevent harm to the University’s students, particularly since it was anticipated that there would be many recruiting activities and social events by the chapters in the coming weekend,” court documents stated.
Earlier this month, the university wrote a letter to fraternity and sorority presidents informing them of the suspension. The letter did not say the alleged misconduct was hazing but instead described it as “activities that have threatened the safety and well-being of members of the University community.”
Fox News’ Landon Mion contributed to this report.
