UI frat suspended; allegations not revealed

A University of Idaho fraternity has been suspended and is being investigated by the school after undisclosed allegations were made.

The university's Delta Sigma Phi chapter is accused of engaging in "behavior that is inconsistent with its own national charter as well as the university's policies and expectations for conduct on our campus," according to a news release issued Tuesday by UI.

UI Dean of Students Blaine Eckles said he did not know if Delta Sigma Phi's national organization had suspended the chapter. A call to the fraternity's headquarters in Indianapolis was not returned Tuesday.

Moscow Police Capt. Tyson Berrett, who heads the department's campus division, said he is not involved in the university's investigation at this time.

"We don't have any current investigations going with Delta Sig," Berrett said. "We're still waiting on information from them (the university) as well."

Berrett said the police department's only interaction with Delta Sigma Phi this school year was an alcohol and safety talk given by officers as part of an annual risk management program.

"I don't recall any calls to Delta Sig for any reason," he said.

Eckles said a UI investigator began looking into the allegations early last week, but he declined to provide details about the nature of the claims or who made them.

"In order to preserve the sanctity of the investigation and in order to conduct a thorough one, we don't get into the specifics," he said.

When the university's investigation is complete, which Eckles said "ideally" would be in a couple of weeks, the school's Greek Community Standards Board will review the findings.

The board will then make a recommendation to him about what should happen, Eckles said.

Consequences, he said, could include "anything from education up to permanent suspension."

Eckles said he could not comment on how many fraternity members might have been involved in the behavior being investigated.

"I feel strongly that not all individuals are individuals we need to be concerned about, but until we conduct an investigation it would be really premature to say who might be involved or how many might be involved, because we really don't know," he said.

The Moscow Police Department and UI officials spent several months investigating allegations of hazing at another fraternity, Phi Gamma Delta, in 2015.

The hazing allegations eventually led to the March 2015 resignation of UI's newly appointed Dean of Students Craig Chatriand. At the time, Chatriand said he quit because he felt UI was no longer an environment where he could address student safety.

The Moscow Police Department's criminal investigation into the alleged hazing was closed without any charges filed. The results of the internal investigation and any actions taken by the university in that incident were not available from UI officials Tuesday.

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Stone may be contacted at mstone@lmtribune.com or at (208) 848-2244. Follow her on Twitter @MarysSchoolNews.