Two University of Kansas fraternities suspended for 'extreme hazing'

Two University of Kansas fraternity houses have been suspended for their 'exceedingly dangerous' hazing practices. 

Phi Gamma Delta and Phi Delta Theta have both had their status as 'registered student organizations' suspended until 2027 - until all of its current members graduate - after investigators uncovered shocking allegations of abuse against pledges.

Pledges were allegedly forced to sleep in sheets soiled with vomit and urine, were rolled into mattresses and violently slammed into walls - leaving one brother with a concussion - and one pledge was even forced to watch a video of a dolphin being mutilated and tortured as a sick punishment.

Others were reportedly made to go for extended periods without sleeping and forced to drink lots of alcohol in a pattern of 'emotional torture' and 'forced servitude'. 

Probes into the two fraternities were opened by their national chapters after KU students reported their treatment. 

Both chapters have undergone probes before - Phi Gamma Delta was scrutinized in 2012, 2015 and 2020, while Phi Delta Theta underwent probes in 2010, 2019 and August of this year.  

Pledges at Phi Gamma Delta, known as 'Fiji,' were 'under the control and authority of members every waking minute each day' and subjected to an 'undisputed level of forced alcohol consumption,' according to a heavily-redacted 30-page report compiled by outside investigators hired by the fraternities and obtained by the Kansas City Star. 

'[A] largely undisputed level of forced alcohol consumption is exceedingly dangerous and is reflective of the dangerous systemic hazing taking place within Phi Gamma Delta,' wrote Vice Provost Tammara Durham in the document.  

To hide what was going on inside the frat house on Louisiana Street in Lawrence, black garbage bags were often taped onto its windows.  

Phi Gamma Delta's locker room was 'covered in vomit, liquor, pee, old food, trash, and who knows what else,' a prospective brother told investigators.   

'When we tried to clean it up, we were told to go immediately to bed without showering and do it in the morning,' the pledge wrote of an incident in September, saying he and others were forced to 'sleep in vomit covered sheets.'  

'I don’t know what else to say other than that being a part of this fraternity has been very difficult, has caused us physical harm, emotional torture, and interfered with our chances of success in college.'

Another pledge described being partially restrained with a pillowcase over his face as he struggled to breathe. Nine lines describing what led up to the punishment were redacted, according to the Lawrence Journal-World.

'I was getting lightheaded and tried to tilt my head down in order to get the pillowcase off my face for a good breath, but was told to tilt my head back up and yelled at as consequence,' the student  told investigators. 

It is unclear whether that student was subjected to 'forced alcohol consumption.' 

When Fiji brothers would come home drunk from parties or bars, they would subject new members to a hazing ritual called 'tacoing,' forcing new members to 'stand or lie on [their] mattress[es] and then rolling up both sides so [they] would be the "meat inside a taco" and then spray[ing them] with substances to simulate condiments.'

Then, they would slam the folded mattresses into lockers and

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