ATHENS, GA – University of Georgia (UGA) officials have suspended indefinitely Chi Phi fraternity following an incident Friday in which Chi Phi pledges allegedly flashed pictures from a pornographic magazine at passers-by and photographed their surprised reactions to exposure to the nude images.Chi Phi is barred from conducting any social events until an investigation has been completed, according to Red and Black, UGA’s independent student newspaper.
According to University police, seven students and a non-student “visitor” flashed photos from Black Tail magazine, taking pictures of students reacting to the photos along the way. None of the men were arrested at the time, and they initially denied the incident, claiming not to be associated with any fraternity.
Although campus police said they don’t plan to file charges, they did notify the UGA Office of Judicial Programs (OJP). Last Friday, vice president of student affairs Eric Atkinson informed Chi Phi that they had been suspended and that they were to conduct no functions pending resolution of an investigation by the OJP.
“They are not to be doing any activities,” said Atkinson, according to Red and Black. “No meetings, no social events, no initiations.”
Atkinson said the OJP is contacting students and looking into the incident to see if any university rules were violated, including UGA’s prohibition of sexual harassment.
Matthew Hughes, President of Chi Phi, said his chapter is “embarrassed” about the situation and that the actions of their pledges were not sanctioned by the fraternity.
“We are trying our best to go down the right path,” said Hughes, adding that the Chi Phi is cooperating with the OJP and Greek Life, which oversees fraternities and sororities at UGA, on the investigation.
Claudia Shamp, director of Greek Life, told Red and Black that is not uncommon for organizations to be held responsible for the actions of their members and pledges, but indicated that no final decision has been reached concerning how Chi Phi might be punished as an organization.
“We want to have a full understanding of exactly what happened,” said Shamp.
