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BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Hazing and drug abuse allegations have led to the closure of the Sigma Chi fraternity chapter at LSU.
Sigma Chi International announced the closure on its website Friday. LSU issued a statement saying the suspension of the charter for the LSU chapter followed an Oct. 17 incident. The university had placed the chapter on suspension last month for an alleged violation of the LSU drug and hazing policy.
The Sigma Chi International statement said the organization will maintain a relationship with LSU and will return to campus after current members have graduated.
"Fraternity leaders had worked for some time to address conduct issues within the chapter, but ultimately concluded that its members were not living up to Sigma Chi's high ideals," the statement said.
LSU said the university agrees with the national chapter's decision. It said the LSU chapter's registration would be suspended through Dec. 31, 2018.
"LSU has a long standing relationship with Sigma Chi, and it's unfortunate that this is the end result, but we take any and all reports of incidents seriously and will not tolerate policy violations when it involves the health, safety and well-being of our students," Kurt Keppler, LSU vice president for student life and enrollment, said in the university's emailed news release.
Details about the allegations were not provided by Sigma Chi or the university and the university said it would have no further comment.
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