After being suspended for two years during the spring 2021 semester for hazing, the Delta Tau Delta fraternity will be reinstated within Student Life this May.
According to findings published in compliance with Georgia’s Max Gruver Act, the incidents of hazing occurred on Feb. 5 and 6 of 2021. An investigation was conducted by Kennesaw State following a separate investigation by the national office of Delta Tau Delta which found no wrongdoing.
The report by KSU says that: “On Bid Day at an off-campus party, new members were asked to participate in rapid consumption of beer with a chapter officer, and the new members were informed of and participated in a “chapter tradition” where a bottle of wine was consumed by the new members during a “drinking game.” The report also said that off-campus inductees “engaged in acts of personal servitude by cleaning up the personal residences of brothers who hosted the party.”
KSU’s Department of Student Conduct and Academic Integrity issued a two-year suspension to Delta Tau Delta. The suspension ends on May 31, 2023.
Despite the report by KSU, Delta Tau Delta denies the hazing claims brought forth by SCAI. In a post made to their Instagram on Aug. 25, 2021, they say that the hazing allegations were made by a parent following the events in February and that an investigation by the national office of Delta Tau Delta found no evidence of hazing.
The national office did find evidence that the KSU chapter violated the fraternities “Membership Responsibility Guidelines’ Alcohol Policies” and that they were given a “support plan” to further members’ education on organizational policies regarding alcohol.
Delta Tau Delta claimed that KSU “Ignored substantiated facts, precedent of sanctions given to other Greek organizations in similar situations and – in our opinion, what is best for the well-being for the students of Kennesaw State University.”
The fraternity was granted approval by the national office to operate as Iota Theta chapter of KSU, under which they have been functioning for the past two years while no longer being affiliated with the university itself.
As part of KSU’s report, Delta Tau Delta will have to comply with several sanctions upon being reinstated to the University. They will not be permitted to partake in any events involving alcohol for a full year, be required to complete a “Culture of Alcohol Conversation” with the Center for Young Adult Addiction and Recovery and the officers and executive board will be required to submit a plan of action to SCAI and the Department of Fraternity and Sorority Life based on what they learned from the CYAAR meetings. All current members must also complete anti-hazing training before they are eligible to participate in IFC recruitment.
The move to reinstate the fraternity has been met with some pushback from members of Fraternity and Sorority Life, who worry that the history of hazing will reflect negatively on their own organizations moving forward.
“I think it’s really important to differentiate Delta Tau Delta from the broader Greek community.” Beta Theta Pi member Kevin McCabe said.
The KSU Interfraternity Council maintains that they do not affiliate with Delta Tau Delta.
“We believe they are not a good fit in our Greek community because they have destroyed any relations with IFC chapters since they were sanctioned,” IFC president Bruno Castro says. “Before they were sanctioned they disaffiliated from IFC and made it public on their Instagram so they still operate outside of Kennesaw State.”
So far, KSU has only seen one other case of hazing reported under the Max Gruver Act. The sorority Delta Sigma Theta was suspended in 2021 for hazing involving running errands for established members, limitations on how they dressed, looked and used social media, as well as overnight off-campus activities in which inductees were not permitted to leave. They received a five-year suspension and are eligible to return on May 31 2026.