Penn State Pulls Recognition of Fraternity for 3 Years

Pennsylvania State University has withdrawn its recognition of the Kappa Delta Rho fraternity for three years because of a “persistent series of deeply troubling activities,” the university announced on Tuesday. The action, which reverses a decision by Penn State’s Interfraternity Council, comes in the wake of reports in March that the fraternity had set up a Facebook page where members posted photographs of unsuspecting nude women.

In its investigation, the university concluded that fraternity members had engaged in “a persistent series of deeply troubling activities.”

“These activities included photographing individuals in extremely compromising positions and posting these photos to a private Facebook site accessible to the group’s members,” Damon Sims, vice president for student affairs, wrote in a letter to the council. “Several instances of hazing, which included physical and emotional abuse, were uncovered, as were drug use and sales. And the investigation brought to light the persistent harassment of two female students, who were degraded through multiple postings to the organization’s private site over an extended period.”

Mr. Sims wrote that the university “must respond accordingly” to make clear that the university “will not tolerate such actions.”

The Interfraternity Council had initially decided that the fraternity could retain its standing by putting new members through a comprehensive education program and by participating in sexual-assault and bystander-intervention training, among other measures.