Delta Tau Delta given 15-year suspension

The university investigation into hazing, including paddling a new member, by the fraternity Delta Tau Delta has concluded. Miami's Vice President of Student Life Jayne Brownell has decided to suspend the fraternity until 2034.

In March, a member of the fraternity's 2019's pledge class anonymously filed a complaint with the Office of Community Standards (OCS), alleging that fraternity members blindfolded him and bludgeoned him 15 times with a spiked and grooved paddle.

The decision was appealed by Delta Tau Delta twice over the summer, first to the University Appeals Board and then to Brownell.

In March 2029, after a ten-year suspension, Delta Tau Delta will have the option to petition the university to come back to campus earlier.

That petition would need to provide "significant evidence" that the fraternity has begun to become a "more positive, safe, and healthy experience for students," Brownell wrote in her decision.

Brownell also wrote that, though Miami administration will have final say in the conditions of Delta Tau Delta's reinstatement, she expects that the university will also want "evidence that the local chapter has ceased all official or unofficial activity on our campus" before the fraternity submits its petition.

Delta Tau Delta members did not respond to a request for comment.

glynnee@miamioh.edu

@ee_glynn