Tufts Suspends 4 Fraternities Over 'Deeply Disturbing' Misconduct Allegations
MEDFORD (CBS) -- Tufts University has suspended four fraternities on campus over allegations of hazing and sexual misconduct.
They say troubling behavior came to light in November, when a student wrote about his experience rushing one of the fraternities in a student magazine article.
Some of the details are too graphic to mention, but the student claimed they were blindfolded, forced to drink and told they had to keep the hazing process a secret.
"There shouldn't be anything normal about being fed shots or forced to do homoerotic and homophobic tasks… There should be nothing normal about sexual assault. But here at Tufts, this is the norm," Ben Kesslen wrote in the Tufts Observer.
Since Kesslen's article ran, the school has received a number of complaints about similar behavior.
University officials responded in a statement.
"The conduct described in the article is deeply disturbing and violates our policies, the university's values, and, potentially, a variety of laws including those against hazing and sexual misconduct."
University officials say all fraternities will be required to participate in sexual misconduct prevention training, alcohol education and training with a national hazing expert.
Students reacted to the news on Tuesday, with one female student telling WBZ-TV it was important for school officials to take action.
"There is a real issue with fraternities and sororities and how they work and the culture they have create at Tufts. So I'm happy that the administration is stepping in to deal with it," she said.
Another student said that fraternities can have a positive impact on the campus.
"They ignored a lot of the good things that fraternities do. Obviously (Kesslen's article) highlighted the issues, and the issues are there. He did a good thing in that," the male student said.
Tufts has also cancelled all social activity for all of the school's fraternities.
Spring recruitment for all of the fraternities and sororities has also been cancelled.
"Greek life, in general, has a history of being kind of misogynistic. So, there is a lot of cleaning up that I think Tufts has to do. But I'm unsure whether it should be banned completely," another Tufts student said.
University officials say they are continuing to look into several Greek organizations and further action may be taken as these investigations continue.
WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Doug Cope reports
