University of Maryland frat pledges suck on pigs' feet in hazing ritual

College Park (Map, News) - Photos of blindfolded pledges sucking pigs’ feet have surfaced in an apparent hazing ritual at a University of Maryland fraternity that has been disbanded by the university.

Officials at College Park disbanded the 48-member Delta Tau Delta fraternity last week after an investigation into anonymous reports of hazing discovered alcohol abuse and “mental, emotional and physical duress” dating to spring 2005, the university said.

Delta Tau Delta did not contest the allegations.

The photos were obtained by “Terp Weekly Edition,” a campus news radio show, which posted them on its Web site.

Other photos depicted shirtless pledges lying face-down on a floor littered with trash, and students with “Delt” shirts drinking beer.

“The University of Maryland, College Park, views hazing as a fundamental violation of human dignity,” the university said in a news release. “It is strictly prohibited at the university.”

Members will have to move out of their house on Fraternity Row by the end of the month.

The incident is the second involving hazing at the university this year.

The Zeta Beta Tau fraternity received 10 months’ probation after the university said it injured a new member by mixing hair gel with water and pouring it over his head.

Delta Tau Delta was a driving force last year in creating a hotline aimed at ending hazing at Greek organizations throughout the country.

“The fraternity was very upset with the conduct of the chapter,” said Norval Stephens, a former international president of the fraternity.

Stephens, who is now chairman of Delta Tau Delta’s Educational Foundation, which is independent from fraternity chapters,  led efforts to create the hot line. He said it has helped prevent hazing.

“Fraternities and sororities banded together to start the hot line, and we had, we think, quite a good, deterrent effort,” Stephens said. “We’re going to stamp out this type of behavior.”

Under the broad legal definition of hazing, which includes anything “demeaning, embarrassing or potentially harmful,” many victims do not even know they are being hazed and most incidents occur on sports teams, according to a University of Maine study released last week.

msilvestri@baltimoreexaminer.com

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