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Sig Ep, Kentucky gone

Fraternity suspended due to alleged hazing

June 10, 2009 by Melissa Vessels

UK’s chapter of one of the largest national fraternities has received a two-year suspension following a hazing incident, according to the associate dean of students.

The Kentucky Alpha chapter of Sigma Phi Epsilon, located on Pennsylvania Avenue, was suspended on May 8 after alleged hazing involving personal servitude during the pledging process. The fraternity also violated a temporary suspension put in place during the investigation that began on March 5, said Associate Dean of Students Tony Blanton in an e-mail to the Kernel.

According to a letter from the Dean of Students Office to Sigma Phi Epsilon President Aaron Tutt, the organization is “excluded from university premises and all other privileges granted to registered student organizations.” The letter warns that violation of the suspension could result in disciplinary expulsion. The organization has the option to appeal the decision to the University Appeals Board.

Sigma Phi Epsilon will be eligible to apply for university registration on July 1, 2011.

Attempts to contact Tutt were unsuccessful by press time.

By Hank Nuwer

Journalist Hank Nuwer tracks hazing deaths in fraternities and schools. Nuwer is the Alaska author of Hazing: Destroying Young Lives; Broken Pledges: The Deadly Rite of Hazing, High School Hazing, Wrongs of Passage and The Hazing Reader. In April of 2024, the Alaska Press Club awarded him first place in the Best Columnist division and Best Humorist, second place.

He has written articles or columns on hazing for the Sunday Times of India, Toronto Globe & Mail, Harper's Magazine, Orlando Sentinel, The Chronicle of Higher Education and the New York Times Sunday Magazine. His current book is Hazing: Destroying Young Lives from Indiana University Press. He is married to Malgorzata Wroblewska Nuwer of Warsaw, Poland and Fairbanks, Alaska. Nuwer is a former columnist for the Greenville (Ohio)Early Bird and former managing editor of the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner in Alaska.
Nuwer was named the Ohio Society of Professional Journalists columnist of the year in 2021 for his “After Darke” column in the Early Bird. He also won third place for the column in 2022 from the Indiana chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. He and his wife Gosia, recently of Union City, Ind., have owned 20 acres in Alaska for many years. “The move is a sort-of coming home for us,” said Nuwer. As a journalist, he’s written about the Alaskan Iditarod sled-dog race and other Alaska topics. Read his musings in his blog at Real Alaska Daily--http://realalaskadaily.com and in his weekly column "Far from Randolph" in the Winchester Star-Gazette of Randolph County, Indiana.

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