Pi Kappa Phi

Local chapter misconduct[edit]

In 2024, the chapter at the University of Arizona was kicked off campus for several violations. A thorough investigation found the chapter guilty of hazing, alcohol violations (including furnishing alcohol to minors), conduct endangering others, and other state or federal law violations.^[9]


In 2022, the chapter at Clemson University was suspended for four years mainly due to hazing. It was reported that pledges acted as servants to members of the fraternity and were often berated and humiliated for various reasons.^[10]


On February 11, 2022, members of the Beta Chapter of the fraternity at Presbyterian College were involved in what the school's president called "racist, misogynistic, and hateful behaviors" before a women's lacrosse game vs. Howard University, a HBCU, at the college. After a three month independent investigation, several students were expelled and the fraternity was permanently removed from campus.^[11]


In 2021, the chapter at Virginia Tech was removed from campus and lost its national charter after it was determined they were guilty of hazing and causing upwards of $18,000 worth of damage to their on-campus fraternity house.^[12]


In 2020, the fraternity at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign was put on interim suspension after holding large parties linked to outbreaks of COVID-19 cases.^[13] The fraternity at the University of Pittsburgh was also suspended, along with several others, for violating the university’s health and safety guidelines related to COVID-19.^[14] Nine students from the fraternity at SUNY Plattsburgh were suspended for violating campus rules and local laws related to alcohol, nuisance, hazing, and endangerment, and the fraternity was issued a cease and desist order that ended its status as an officially recognized student organization.^[15]


In 2020, the University of Kansas chapter was shut down after university officials investigated repeated incidents of hazing and illicit drug use. The chapter was expelled from the university for 5 years, ending in the spring of 2026.^[16] Similarly, the Iota Psi chapter at Boise State University was suspended for five (5) years following "repeated violations," according to the school.^[17]


In 2019, the University of Texas at Austin chapter was shut down after university officials investigated submitted complaints of hazing.^[18] This was the second chapter to be shut down at UT, the fraternity having only been re-colonized there about 12 years prior; the first chapter was shut down in 2000 for similar reasons.


In 2019, several members of the fraternity at Texas State University brutally attacked a fellow student they mistakenly assumed was a member of their rival fraternity on campus Phi Kappa Psi, leaving him with a fractured skull and a traumatic brain injury. As a result, the fraternity was placed on suspension, some members faced criminal charges, and the attacked student filed a lawsuit against the fraternity.^[19]


In 2017, the chapter at Central Michigan University was suspended indefinitely by the university for failure to adhere to previous sanctions.^[20]


In July 2017, the Alpha chapter at the College of Charleston was suspended by the college following a probe investigating allegations of drug and alcohol use, hazing, and the alleged beating of a student. The fraternity is forbidden from recolonizing the campus until Fall 2019.^[21]


In November 2017, a Florida State University (FSU) student named Andrew Coffey was found unresponsive the morning after an unaffiliated off campus house party. Coffey, a Pi Kappa Phi fraternity pledge, was given medical treatment in an attempt to resuscitate, but died soon thereafter. After his death, FSU suspended all 58 fraternities and sororities on campus, and banned alcohol from student events.^[22][23]


In 2016, the fraternity at the University of South Florida (USF) was suspended after a 16 year old girl was raped while she was unconscious in the fraternity's house. The girl was visiting the campus and decided to attend the fraternity's house party. A fraternity member confessed to the rape and was arrested.^[24] A few months prior to the rape incident at USF, another rape allegation involving the fraternity at Purdue University was reported to the campus police department^[25]


In 2016, the fraternity at the Miami University was suspended for multiple hazing and alcohol violations.^[26]


In 2016, four fraternity members at Radford University were arrested for hazing.^[27]


In 2015, the chapter at Pennsylvania State University was shut down for hazing pledges, alcohol abuse, and disorderly conduct.^[28] It was re-colonized in the spring of 2018.


In Spring 2015, the fraternity at the Elon University was kicked off the campus until 2017 for hazing and hosting an unapproved event.^[29]


After the death of University of Missouri freshman Jack Lipp at a Pi Kappa Phi fraternity rush party in December 2014, his parents settled for $5 million with the property owner and future developers of the site. The lawsuit, initially filed for negligence in repairing a broken railing, alleged that the property owner was aware of the insecure railing before Lipp's fatal fall. Despite complaints about the balcony's safety, repairs were not scheduled as the property was slated for demolition. The incident occurred during an out-of-control rush party at Pi Kappa Phi fraternity, leading to Lipp's death.^[30]


An alleged pledge notebook of Pi Kappa Phi's North Carolina State University chapter was found in Raleigh. It contained numerous racist statements and comments about raping women and girls. The national organization placed the chapter on an interim suspension. NCSU suspended all social events at the chapter that involved alcohol.^[31][32]


A student pledging the California State University, Northridge chapter of Pi Kappa Phi died in the summer of 2014 during a mandatory 18-mile hike in what his family alleges was a hazing ritual.^[33] Nineteen-year-old Armando Villa died during the trip to the Angeles National Forest. Villa's family reported that other boys on the hike said they were "left barefoot with very little water to share between the boys, and no cellphones, and to find their way out of the forest."^[34] In September 2014, the University announced that the national and local chapters of the Pi Kappa Phi fraternity voted to withdraw permanently from the university.^[35] The fraternity is being sued by Villa's family.


In December 2013, two Pi Kappa Phi members were arrested and charged with harassment at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. The fraternity members were retaliating against a former pledge who reported to school officials physical and verbal abuse he experienced while he was seeking to join the fraternity.^[36]


In 2012, the fraternity at the University of North Florida was suspended after asking a pledge to vandalize the campus and offering him marijuana.^[37]


In 2010, the fraternity at the University of Georgia (UGA) was suspended after a father of a pledge wrote an anonymous letter to UGA's Greek Life Office detailing the abusive hazing rituals his son endured in order to be fully welcomed into the fraternity.^[38]


In 2000, the California State University, Chico chapter was dissolved and later permanently banned after the alcohol-related hazing death of freshman student Adrian Heideman.^[39] In response to Heideman's death the national chapter created an alcohol-awareness video for distribution to all members, "The Choice Is Yours."^[40]