Fraternity council: Zeta Psi status 'pending'

The Zeta Psi fraternity was placed on "pending" status by the Interfraternity Council (IFC) judicial board Wednesday night following allegations of pledge class hazing in 2003 and 2004.

Sophomore Justin Muhlbeier and three former Zeta Psi members testified before the board that the fraternity's pledge events "focused almost solely on hazing."

"They haze a lot, let's just put it that way," Muhlbeier said. "I went through the hazing, I know what hazing is."

Muhlbeier and another fraternity member were asked to leave the house last November after protesting what they considered hazing to Zeta Psi President Will Hoff, the alumni president and the fraternity's national chapter. Two other Zeta Psi members voluntarily left the fraternity in protest.

Muhlbeier said his 2003 Zeta Psi pledge class was often forced to do "six inches," or pushups held in the half-way position, while enduring verbal abuse.

Once, he recalled, they had to scrub bathroom tile non-stop from midnight to 2 a.m. while alternating between "gears," or speeds, that ranged from very slow to "super fast."

Pledges were not allowed in certain hallways and often fell victim to practical jokes called "sneaks" by older fraternity brothers, Muhlbeier said.

During one "sneak" on his pledge class, the freshmen were ordered to buy older brothers cigars and then do "six inches" on a spit-covered floor.

"The total attitude [was] that you're less of a person for being a pledge," Muhlbeier said. "I really don't have much sympathy for the house after what I went through and my friends went through."

Zeta Psi will have an opportunity to appeal the judicial board's decision. The IFC was unavailable for comment last night, and Hoff failed to respond to The Daily's questions.