Fraternity at Penn State-Altoona Faces Questions After a Member’s Suicide

Members of the Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity at Pennsylvania State University’s Altoona campus have sought legal advice after their chapter was suspended pending investigations into a fraternity member’s suicide, The Altoona Mirror reported.

The fraternity is under investigation for alleged hazing that the family of Marquise Braham believes led him to jump to his death from the roof of a Nassau County, N.Y., hotel on March 14. A lawyer for Eric Traister, the fraternity chapter’s president, has denied all allegations of hazing.

Tom Dickey, a lawyer consulted by other members of the fraternity, said he had asked them about their initiation activities. “My feeling is that they are getting a bad rap,” Mr. Dickey told the Mirror. He declined to say what those initiation activities were.

A spokesman for the Braham family said information from Mr. Braham’s laptop and cellphone had led the family to believe that the reason for his suicide was the guilt and distress he felt for participating in unspecified hazing practices.

The Logan Township and Penn State-Altoona police departments were looking into fraternity activities before Mr. Braham’s death.