Sigma Pi Hazing In Hofstra University: Photos Allegedly Show ‘Extreme Hazing’ By Campus Fraternity

Hofstra University in Long Island, New York, is seeking police help to investigate allegations of hazing by campus fraternity after the institution’s student-run newspaper published pictures of pledging members being tortured. The Sigma Pi chapter Eta-Gamma’s charter was revoked this March following these allegations, which were reported in the newspaper Tuesday.

The photos published in the Hofstra Chronicle showed pledging members chugging milk and vomiting on each other, kneeling blindfolded in front of a swastika with their bodies covered in hot sauce and laying on the floor covered in a white powdery substance. The hazing is believed to have happened in an off campus house in 2014 and 2015.

“The university condemns the incidents depicted in the photos and reported in the story and has commenced an immediate investigation,” the college said in a statement. “In addition, the university has also reached out to the Nassau County Police Department for their support and investigation of any potentially criminal behavior.”

Syed Ali John Mehdi a former student and a member of Sigma Pi’s Spring 2015 Beta-Alpha class sent an email to national Sigma Pi Executive Director Jason Walker and Director of Business Operations Jen Wyatt on March 1, the Chronicle reported, citing a record of the transaction. He described his experience as “extreme hazing” and provided the officials with photos and videos showing certain rituals. The fraternity’s Hofstra chapter Eta-Gamma's license was revoked the next day, according to the newspaper.

“It was human torture. It was horrible,” Mehdi reportedly said. “We were covered in ghost, one of the world's hottest hot sauces for eight hours on end, repeating the same chants, listening to the same songs.”

After Eta-Gamma’s charter was revoked, the university said it investigated the chapter. Sigma Pi’s Grand Council did not give out any further information. Moreover, members of the fraternity did not come forward with complaints associated with new member initiation practices in Eta-Gamma. And the university said it did not see evidence of hazing until the Chronicle reported about it.