Penn State has suspended a fraternity chapter for the next three years for what officials on Tuesday called “multiple and repeated violations of university policy over an extended period.”
The Beta Alpha Chapter of Pi Kappa Alpha’s suspension through 2025, handed down by Penn State’s Office of Student Accountability and Conflict Response, follows more than two years of repeated violations, including prohibited alcohol use and “failure to comply,” according to a news release.
With the suspension, the fraternity, commonly known as PIKE, loses all rights and privileges as a recognized student organization and cannot participate in or attend as a fraternity any activities or events, including formal recruitment, Homecoming and THON.
The chapter did not participate in a hearing to plead its case and, according to Penn State, intends to operate independently without university oversight or recognition. Pi Kappa Alpha International Fraternity has been notified of the university suspension but is not taking action itself to suspend the chapter.
Penn State “strongly discourages students from maintaining or seeking membership with this organization or interacting with this organization in any way,” a university statement said, noting that the chapter will not be subject to educational and preventive programs or monitoring. Though the university will not have oversight of the chapter as an organization, individual students remain subject to the Student Code of Conduct on and off campus.
Student Affairs staff worked with the international fraternity and “exhausted available resources and opportunities to assist the chapter in creating a safe, successful and sustainable fraternal organization,” according to the statement. The chapter, though, refused to comply with expectations, Penn State officials said.
“It is always regrettable to reach this juncture in our relationship with a recognized student organization, but it is especially regrettable when the organization has a long and meaningful history at Penn State,” Vice President for Student Affairs Damon Sims said. “I am confident that our staffs in Fraternity and Sorority Life and Student Accountability and Conflict Response have done all they can to address these issues constructively. Our commitment to student safety and the sustainability and success of our fraternity and sorority community requires that we respond effectively to groups that refuse to follow our reasonable expectations and processes, and that is all we are doing in this instance.”
