BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — The newest members of Indiana University’s chapter of Delta Upsilon fraternity were forced to drink bong water, eat hot peppers, and mixtures of “anything in the fridge or on the counter,” during initiations.

Pledges were told to do cocaine, shoved into closets with more than two dozen other pledges, and pressured to not open the door when IU Police came knocking at the door.

These are just a few of the alleged incidents of hazing that occurred in the now-abandoned Delta Upsilon house on Third Street, and among the findings of several investigations the university says led to the suspension by IU and the fraternity’s national headquarters.

Before the December 2023 suspension, IU’s chapter of Delta Upsilon fraternity had a laundry list of disciplinary run-ins with the Office of Student Life.

At the time of the suspension, the chapter was on elevated disciplinary probation through the end of 2023 for a prior hazing violation. If Delta Upsilon and the university didn’t suspend the IU chapter, the fraternity would have been on disciplinary probation from Jan. 1, 2024, through May 5, 2025, for hazing.

In November 2018 through November 2019, the IU chapter of Delta Upsilon was on disciplinary probation from for dishonest conduct; November 2020 through December 2021 for endangering others, and alcohol violations; and in February through May 2022 for failure to comply with the directions of authorized university officials in the performance of their duties, and non-compliance with OSFL policies.

Following the chapter’s 2023 suspension, IUSTV News filed a Freedom of Information Act request with Indiana University to obtain documents related to the investigation into alleged hazing dating back to 2018.

That request was granted months later, and the university provided five documents that detailed hazing incidents, university action, and communication between the fraternity and the university.

SPRING 2018
The farthest back document Indiana University provided was a copy of a decision letter dated Sept. 7, 2018.

The Office of Student Conduct launched an investigation into a Code of Conduct complaint that alleged Delta Upsilon Fraternity engaged in dishonest conduct during the spring 2018 semester, including, forgery, alteration, misuse of any university document, record, or identification; and giving knowingly false information to university officials.

According to the decision letter, Delta Upsilon Fraternity was found responsible for chapter members knowingly providing information that they knew to be false to university investigators about the use of Greek family terminology, pledge attendance at chapter meetings, pledge attendance at and responsibilities during parties/pairs, existence of pledge class meetings, cleaning, occurrence of and structure of pledge quizzes, existence and knowledge of a “pledge class project,” the date of pledgeship events, existence of “social dues” use of a Venmo account for social dues and alcohol purchases, utilization of GroupMe’s for communication, and the membership of GroupMe’s.

As a result, the chapter was put on disciplinary probation from November 2018 through November 2019, and accepted a three-part action plan.

FALL 2020
In a different document IU provided was a copy of the signed 2020 agreement between the chapter and the Office of Student Life. Along with an agreed 12-part action plan, the document detailed allegations of misconduct by the fraternity and it’s chapter officers.

The Delta Upsilon house was filled with up to 200 people for a party Halloween night. Just before 1 a.m., IU Police were called to the house for a noise complaint. When officers walked up to the house, roughly 50 people were shouting “”red alert, red alert!”

Fraternity members were seen through windows, running up and down the stairs as they advised house leadership to shut down the party.

“Oh f***—police; don’t answer the door!” one member shouted.  

A week later, when the Office of Student Conduct was contact tracing positive COVID-19 cases tied to the party, the university learned that at “least one student under the age of 21 confirmed they were consuming alcohol at the Delta Upsilon chapter facility on this day all day resulting in an injury, interaction with police, and hospitalization.”

For the 2020 incidents, the chapter requested a formal agreement with the Vice Provost for Student Affairs and IU accepted the request, “based on the organization’s acceptance of responsibility.”

The chapter was put on disciplinary probation from November 2020 through December 2021.

Additionally, IU enacted a 12-part action plan that included the election of new chapter officers for Chapter President, Vice President of Finance and Vice President of Academic Excellence.

As a result of their interactions with police during the Halloween party, the chapter officers at the time were forced to resign from their positions.

SPRING 2022
In a brief outcome letter dated March 2, 2022, the Office of Student Conduct determined that Delta Upsilon Fraternity violated university policy by failing to evacuate the fraternity house after a fire alarm was activated, and for failing to register an event properly in accordance with OSFL policy.

As a result, the chapter was put on disciplinary probation from February 2022 through May 2022, and accepted a seven-part action plan.

No other information or documents related to the Code of Conduct complaint were provided, and the Spring 2022 incident was considered the less severe incidents of the ones investigated.

FALL 2023
The first of two documents dating back to the Fall 2023 semester was an agreement letter from the Office of Student Conduct, dated Sept. 8, 2023. It detailed the findings of a Code of Conduct complaint.

The investigation determined that Delta Upsilon violated five separate Codes of Conduct, including endangering others, failure to comply with the terms of a disciplinary sanction, hazing, alcohol violations, and other policies.

According to the agreement letter, after a night of partying in Dec. 2022, one member was so intoxicated that his chapters brothers had to carry him home before he was sent to the hospital for medical help.

Another incident cited in the report said that Delta Upsilon provided alcohol to underage students at a registered event on Feb. 18, 2023.

One of the most notable findings, however, is details of hazing from the Spring 2023 semester.

According to the agreement letter, a photo was taken of a chapter member on his knees with his face to the floor and hands behind his back. The photo was sent in a GroupMe chat group named “F**ked.”

A user in the group named “Boss,” sent the photo with a message that said “5 minutes until I f**k @[Associate Member] up[.]”

Then, five minutes later, the user sent the message, “Times up. . . . I hope @[Associate Member] will be able to forgive you after what I’m about to do to him.”

According to the agreement letter, in a different incident, a user in the group named “Instructor,” sent a message that read, “I’ll turn my location on. If there isn’t 37 likes on all our messages since Spring Break started by the time I come back you are in for a reckoning. You better track me and hold your PC accountable.”

Delta Upsilon also failed to initiate all pledges within the required timeline by the Office of Sorority and Fraternity Life. Additionally, during the initiation process, the university said the new chapter pledges were provided alcohol, despite the cease-and-desist status with the university.

The university also alleges the Delta Upsilon chapter had a lack of cooperation with the investigation, and as such, IU and the fraternity chapter agreed to an extensive action plan.

First, the chapter was put on Elevated Disciplinary Probation from September to December 2023, and Disciplinary Probation from January 2024 to May 2025. Additionally, in July 2023, the Delta Upsilon Board of Directors put the chapter on reorganization status for no less than two years, during which all members, including chapter leadership, was reassessed.

As a result, the Delta Upsilon Board of Directors oversaw the selection of a new executive board.

The chapter also agreed to participate in a hazing prevention program, a sexual assault prevention program, a Men of Merit Standards and Chapter Excellence Plan, and a Building Better Men Retreat.

---

The second document from Fall 2023 semester was another agreement letter from the Office of Student Conduct, dated Nov.30, 2023. It detailed the findings of another Code of Conduct complaint, that ultimately ended with the suspension of the chapter.

The investigation determined that Delta Upsilon engaged in the hazing of its members by physical abuse and personal servitude.

According to the agreement letter, chapter members were forced to:

• hold contortion poses for over an hour while confined to closets,
• do calisthenics on bottle caps,
• hold a match while reciting the Greek Alphabet,
• consume bong water, hot peppers, and mixtures of “anything in the fridge or on the counter,” and
• stand in a line facing away from brothers for one-and-a-half hours.

Additionally, the investigation found Delta Upsilon members confined 28 chapter members in a closet for 15 minutes, poured mixtures of liquids on chapter members, and facilitated line-ups two to three times per week for up to nearly three hours at a time.

According to the agreement letter, chapter members were also forced to clean common spaces of the fraternity house, “cleaning oatmeal off the front lawn after a brother poured the oatmeal on the ground,” and driving brothers until early morning hours.

Chapter members also tracked the locations of fraternity brothers using Life360.

The university found that chapter members were told to use cocaine and required brothers to call them by nicknames.

Following the investigation, the national chapter of Delta Upsilon fraternity and IU mutually suspended the chapter from campus, and members have since moved out of the house.

The chapter will be eligible to return to IU no sooner than August 24, 2026.

INDIANA UNIVERSITY RESPONSE
After reading the incident reports, IUSTV News reached out to the university with an interview request to discuss the findings outlined in the report, as well as hear directly from the university about their stances on hazing.

IU spokesperson Mark Bode responded to that interview request over a phone call, saying that the Office of Student life was not interested in providing a statement for this story, saying that the suspension and additional actions taken against the fraternity chapter can be considered their stance on hazing.

Additionally, Bode referred to IU’s stance on hazing as outlined on their website.

IU HAZING POLICIES
According to the Office of Student Life’s website, hazing is defined as “any conduct that subjects another person, whether physically, mentally, emotionally, or psychologically, to anything that may endanger, abuse, degrade, or intimidate the person as a condition of association with a group or organization, regardless of the person’s consent or lack of consent.”

OSFL provided a list of hazing examples including:

• forced consumption of food, liquids, alcohol, drugs, mixed substances, or other items,
• disproportionate responsibilities,
• degradation,
• intimidation,
• mental stress,
• obstructing education,
• personal servitude,
• physical exercise, exertion, and labor,
• physical abuse,
• freedom restrictions,
• sleep deprivation, and
• sexual abuse and harassment

IU says that hazing is strictly prohibited, and that the university investigates all alleged incidents of hazing.

INCIDENTS AT OTHER GREEK HOUSES
According to the Office of Student Life, Delta Upsilon is one of ten Greek life organizations that are suspended from the university. At least seven of those suspensions are a result of hazing.

Delta Upsilon was not the only fraternity suspended during the Fall 2023 semester. In December, IU and the national chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity suspended the IU chapter for dishonest conduct, hazing, retaliation.

As of April 19, there are three Greek life organizations on cease and desist. Kappa Sigma for alcohol violations, endangering others, and hazing; Kappa Alpha Psi for hazing; and Beta Sigma Psi for hazing.

IUSTV News has filed additional Freedom of Information Act requests with IU to obtain documented incidents of hazing at other Greek houses on campus, but has not yet received any of those requests.

Starting July 1, all Indiana public colleges and universities will be required by law to publish information on hazing incidents that occur on campus.