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SU suspends Alpha Tau Omega fraternity

Hieu Nguyen | Senior Staff Photographer

The fraternity is no longer allowed to operate on campus.

UPDATED: Dec. 10, 2019 at 3:15 p.m.

Syracuse University has suspended its chapter of the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity for violating the university’s Code of Student Conduct, a university spokesperson said Tuesday. 

The fraternity is no longer allowed to operate on campus, said Sarah Scalese, senior associate vice president for university communications, in an email to The Daily Orange. 

ATO was placed under investigative status in October, and all chapter activities were suspended for the duration of the investigation. The University Conduct Board determined after conduct proceedings that the fraternity had violated SU’s student conduct code, Scalese said. The misconduct that led to the investigation and suspension of ATO is unclear. 

Syracuse University is committed to maintaining a healthy and welcoming campus environment for all, and as such, expects all students and organizations to uphold the standards outlined in the Code of Student Conduct,” Scalese said. “When behaviors violate these community standards, they are met with appropriate action.”



Wynn Smiley, CEO of ATO’s national organization, said the organization reached a similar conclusion as SU concerning the “poor choices” of some members of SU’s ATO chapter. The National Fraternity Board revoked the charter of ATO’s Epsilon Phi chapter Monday, he said. 

“ATO supports the actions of the University and decided to cease all operations on campus,” Smiley said.

SU’s chapter of the Zeta Beta Tau fraternity was also placed under investigative status in October. The fraternity remains under investigative status and is on disciplinary probation for a previous conduct violation until Dec. 31, according to SU’s Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs. The alleged misconduct resulting in the investigation of ZBT is also unclear. 

This post was updated with additional reporting.





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