Sorority activities at Duke suspended after hospitalization

Panhellenic sorority activities have been partially suspended after a new member was hospitalized due to an incident with alcohol Tuesday night.

“The University of Alabama will not tolerate hazing and takes allegations and incidents of hazing very seriously, ” Dean of Students Tim Hebson said in a statement at the time.

The incident happened during recent “rush and bid” periods, where women are invited to join a sorority chapter, according to a separate statement from the school’s vice-president for student affairs, Larry Moneta, who also noted that the student was “expected to recover fully”.

The unnamed student is in critical condition, according to an email sent Wednesday to the university’s Panhellenic Council by Clarybel Peguero, director of fraternity and sorority life at Duke, and Anya Ranganathan, president of the university’s Panhellenic Council.

However, Moneta issued a second statement later Wednesday that confirmed the suspension of activities had been “partially lifted” following what he called a “candid and productive conversation” during that meeting.

He added that each chapter will be asked to review its activities to ensure they comply with the college’s policies on social events, rush, and alcohol use.

The letter says the group will “discuss the incident, review Duke’s expectations for all chapter and their members, and ask each chapter to review its activities to ensure compliance”. Further sanctions are expected to be lifted in the near future.

“Its really scary. I mean as a sorority member myself, I get nervous for the new members or nervous for anyone that’s ever in those positions”, said Duke junior Tory Trombley. According to a Fox News report, all of Duke University’s 18 sororities held their week-long recruitment drive earlier this month with “bid” day, the day of member selection, being held on January 24.