At least four graduating seniors and former members of Pi Alpha Nu fraternity were permitted to return for their last semester following hazing allegations by a former pledge.
Of the 22 indicted students, campus administration allowed the four to return on probationary terms.
“Affected students have gone through the campus judicial process,” Executive Director of Communications and Public Affairs Ken Knelly said. Other students who were charged have been suspended for one or more semester, he said.
Earlier court documents revealed pledges were force-fed, urinated on, vomited on and paddled by older members. One victim came forward only after a former pledge master allegedly threatened to “break every bone in [his] body” if he reported the hazing to police.
In addition to reprimands by campus administration, District Attorney Andrew Wylie and Plattsburgh City Police brought charges against the former fraternity members, including first-degree hazing, first-degree unlawful dealing with a child and second-degree criminal nuisance.
Many of the accused saw charges dropped or pleaded down to disorderly conduct, which is a violation as opposed to a crime.
The fraternity, which was founded at SUNY Plattsburgh in 1957, chartered chapters at SUNY New Paltz in 1984 and at SUNY Albany in 1986. The New Paltz campus houses the only remaining active chapter of the organization.
Email Rebecca Natale at news@cardinalpointsonline.com
