HARTFORD, Conn. ― State police and the University of Connecticut have launched separate investigations into alleged hazing by a sorority and a fraternity.
UConn officials on Monday temporarily suspended the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority and Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity from all activities on campus pending the outcome of their investigation.
UConn sophomore and Kappa Kappa Gamma member Hillary Holt told reporters last week that she was taken to the Sigma Alpha Epsilon’s off-campus house on March 6 and forced to commit humiliating acts, including being told to lie on the floor and pretend to “sizzle like bacon.” She said she was then pressured to drink alcohol to the point of passing out.
Holt said she woke up in a hospital and was told her blood-alcohol level was nearly three times the legal limit of 0.08.
School spokeswoman Stephanie Reitz said UConn’s Office of Community Standards is investigating to determine if anyone violated the honor code, and state police are looking into whether any crimes were committed.
In a letter to the organizations, the school said the interim suspension is not meant to be punitive, but part of the investigative process and used “when information indicates that the presence of your organization on campus could pose a threat to the health and safety of the campus community.”
The local Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority and Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity declined to comment and referred all inquiries to their national offices.
