Delta Tau Delta fraternity, commonly known as Delt, was placed on deferred revocation and probation until Dec. 17, 2023. Phi Kappa Tau, FarmHouse and Kappa Alpha Theta were also placed on probation or suspended. Credit: Jack Westerheide | Lantern File Photo
An update to the Sorority and Fraternity Life Conduct History revealed two fraternities have been found to violate the Code of Student Conduct, with one additional fraternity and a sorority on interim suspension pending investigation.
After Acacia had its student organization status revoked March 3, Delta Tau Delta, FarmHouse, Phi Kappa Tau and Kappa Alpha Theta were the latest Greek Life chapters to be suspended or put on probation.
Delta Tau Delta fraternity, commonly known as Delt, was placed on deferred revocation and probation until Dec. 17, 2023, for falsification of information, failure to comply with sanctions, destruction of property and alcohol violations. The fraternity is also under operational suspension until Spring 2023.
According to previous reporting from The Lantern, Delta Tau Delta, or Delt, has faced five previous sanctions for violating the Code of Student Conduct. The fraternity had a case under review in March 2021 for endangering behavior, alcohol and violating university or state laws. It was no longer able to host or participate in in-person events while the outcome of the conduct process was pending.
Phi Kappa Tau fraternity, or Phi Tau, and Kappa Alpha Theta sorority, or Theta, were both placed on interim suspension pending investigations. Theta would be the first sorority since Gamma Phi Beta in 2020 to have violated the Code of Student Conduct, depending on investigation results. The conduct history does not specify which violations allegedly occurred for either Greek Life organization.
Delt, Phi Tau and Theta did not respond to a request for comment by the time of publication.
FarmHouse Fraternity’s Alpha Tau Zeta chapter was placed on disciplinary probation through May 7, 2023, for charges involving hazing and alcohol.
According to Collin’s Law — Ohio’s Anti-Hazing Act — hazing involving alcohol is a third-degree felony. Collin’s Law was first signed in the Ohio Senate in July 2021 after Collin Wiant, a student at Ohio University, died in a hazing incident in November 2018.
To comply with Collin’s Law, Ohio State will launch a new, more organized website to make hazing incidents from the last five years available to the public. The website will be launched in January at the latest.
Austin Borchers, president of FarmHouse and a fourth-year in agribusiness and applied economics, said in an email he hopes the chapter gets through its process as quickly as possible.
“We are led to believe the report to student conduct was a result of a disgruntled ex-member who left the chapter on rough terms in the spring semester following recurring violations of our chapter’s conduct that he committed,” Borchers said. “We do not stand for the actions that were reported, and that does not represent the chapter and its members as a whole.”
University spokesperson Dave Isaacs said in an email the Code of Student Conduct allows for the “thorough and expedient review” of circumstances for “each allegation of misconduct.”
“Sanctions are designed to be educational in nature and are determined on a case by case basis using a variety of factors including the nature and severity of the violation, related circumstances, impact on the campus/community, past history, precedent and educational value of the sanction,” Isaacs said.
The university currently has a zero-tolerance policy for “any form” of hazing and maintains a list of actions that are considered hazing on the Student Conduct website. Ohio State students and employees are required to report hazing incidents and can do so online and/or anonymously.
