Penn State and Sigma Tau Gamma permanently closed Alpha Psi chapter for hazing in 2020

The University of Arizona has suspended its Sigma Tau Gamma fraternity chapter after an investigation found new members were allegedly forced to swallow live goldfish and consume large quantities of alcohol during a fall 2025 pledging ritual, according to a university investigation letter obtained by The Guardian.

The chapter is barred from all activities except essential business meetings while the university’s investigation concludes. College officials informed the chapter by letter earlier in September that it was under investigation for multiple alleged violations of the student code of conduct, including “endangering, threatening, or causing physical harm” to members of the campus community.

“New members of Sigma Tau Gamma fraternity were subjected to hazing,” Jasmin Hayes, the university’s senior student rights and responsibilities coordinator, wrote in the letter. “Specifically, new members were forced to consume large quantities of alcohol and live goldfish. Additionally, new members were subjected to screaming, degradation, and threats from active members.”

A repeat violation, or any attempt to contact or interfere with witnesses, could result in more severe consequences, Hayes warned.

The Guardian has contacted Sigma Tau Gamma for comment. On its national website, the fraternity promotes virtues including “integrity,” “excellence” and “citizenship.”

In 2020, Pennsylvania State University and Sigma Tau Gamma’s board of directors jointly announced the permanent closure of the Alpha Psi chapter for hazing offenses, including providing alcohol to minors. “Hazing has no place in Sigma Tau Gamma,” the fraternity said in a statement at the time.

The Sigma Tau Gamma investigation is among six University of Arizona fraternity chapters investigated for hazing in 2026, Tucson’s KOLD news station reported in May. Among the allegations across those cases are forced alcohol and drug use and incidents of violence and intimidation resulting in hospitalizations, the outlet reported. A separate UA fraternity, Sigma Phi Epsilon, was placed on probation for 12 months and fined $4,000 for breaches of the student code of conduct relating to hazing, KOLD reported.

The case comes amid a broader series of recent campus hazing incidents across the United States. At the University of Wisconsin-Madison, dozens of partly clothed young men were discovered locked in the basement of a fraternity house, where they were covered in food as part of a pledging ritual.

In New York, prosecutors said Monday that they had reopened a 2024 investigation into the alleged drugging and gang-rape of a female student by seven members of Cornell University’s Chi Phi fraternity.