U of A lifts suspension of 16 fraternities; 5 still under investigation

The five still under investigation are Delta Chi, Delta Kappa Epsilon, Sigma Tau Gamma, Zeta Beta Tau and Zeta Psi.

The UA had placed all 21 fraternities in its Interfraternity Council on an interim activities suspension on Oct. 5 amid “multiple reports of misconduct” and “egregious” behavior in the current fall semester that involved nearly half of the fraternities, Dean of Students Chrissy Lieberman has said.

All chapters were required to meet with the dean of students, and the 16 fraternities were allowed to resume activities after the meetings were held.

Here are the allegations against the five fraternities still under investigation:

Over several days in September, Delta Chi was reported to have hosted two unregistered social events with alcohol, one at which a Delta Chi member physically assaulted a UA student. The fraternity also had a member who suffered from a potential drug overdose, which the UA Police Department responded to, and there were also new members “subjected to hazing activities involving alcohol, calisthenics, degradation, and yelling,” according to the Dean of Students Office.

A member of Delta Kappa Epsilon allegedly assaulted a UA student at the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity house, leading to hospitalization, according to a letter sent by UA’s associate dean of students Whitney Mohr, to the fraternity on Oct. 2.

Members of Zeta Psi were said to be “actively drinking and using drugs” during a “dry” recruitment event, according to reports received by the Dean of Students Office.

As for Sigma Tau Gamma, in a letter dated Sept. 2, Mohr stated that in the fall of 2025, new members were subjected to hazing practices including being forced to consume “large quantities of alcohol and live goldfish.” The new members were also subjected to “screaming, degradation and threats from active members,” Mohr stated.

“The University of Arizona will not tolerate further violations that puts students in harm’s way,” UA said in a statement Monday. “Mandatory advisor meetings will continue for all IFC chapters, and advisors must attend each meeting. If an advisor fails to attend, the chapter will be removed from good standing with Fraternity & Sorority Programs.”

The misconduct reports in the fall semester came after four UA fraternities were investigated for serious hazing allegations in the spring of this year.

Tyler Vallely, a member of UA’s academic fraternity Alpha Gamma Rho who is studying to be a high school teacher, said there should be consistency when it comes to any type of punishment or discipline.

He noted the nationwide protest last Thursday in solidarity with the former Cornell student, “Jane Doe,” who has filed a lawsuit saying she was drugged and gang raped at a fraternity house at the New York school in 2024.

“I think that’s put an increasing pressure on the fraternities, which I think is a valid reaction,” said Vallely, spokesperson for UA's Alpha Gamma Rho, which is one of the 16 fraternities whose suspensions were lifted.

“As an older brother, a future husband and father, situations like that need to be serious. It needs to be discussed and actions need to be made,” he said Monday in an interview with the Star.

“I think the (UA) suspension as a whole wasn’t to put any chapters down or to give anyone unfair treatment, but it was simply to discuss the current state and make sure more responsibility and more consistencies (exist) going forward.”

Vallely said the fact that 16 of the fraternities are no longer suspended after having meetings with the Dean of Students Office is a testament to the chapters that are doing things right.

He lamented the fact that all fraternities are being lumped together in public criticism, instead of there being a recognition that not all are the same and some are in good standing.

“We have neighbors or people that come by and will not even have a conversation with us, but throw stuff at us, yell at us when we’re on the porch doing homework and doing everything in our own right on our own property. And so, I think what needs to be had is more honest conversations and curiosity," Vallely said. 

Eyal Danielli is a member of Theta Tau, a UA academic fraternity that’s separate from IFC and which Danielli said isn't a social fraternity but uses Greek letters in its name.

It was unfortunate, Danielli said, that consequences came down heavily on Greek life as a whole, not just on those fraternities that deserved to be investigated and disciplined.