KU suspends Alpha Tau Omega fraternity for 5 years following hazing investigation
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- KU revokes ATO’s student org status through spring 2031.
- KU records on ATO’s Sept–Oct 2024 hazing are heavily redacted.
- KU has repeatedly sanctioned fraternities for hazing and related violations.
A University of Kansas investigation into allegations of hazing and other harmful behavior at Alpha Tau Omega’s fraternity house has earned the chapter a five-year ban from campus.
The fraternity’s student organization status has been revoked through spring 2031, according to an online database that logs KU student groups’ conduct violations. Alpha Tau Omega, or ATO, had previously been on probation through December 2027 for hazing-related violations.
Representatives for ATO’s national organization, which bills itself as “America’s Leadership Development Fraternity,” did not respond to a request for comment on Monday about the circumstances of the March 20 suspension.
One officer of the KU chapter, listed on ATO’s website as the fraternity’s recruiting contact, answered a phone call but declined to comment. Robert Boersma, the chapter president, did not return a phone call or respond to an email on Monday.
KU spokesperson Erinn Barcomb-Peterson also did not respond to a list of questions about the suspension — the latest in a string of disciplinary actions and investigations into hazing allegations at KU fraternities.
Hazing findings heavily redacted
In years past, the university has responded to open records requests by furnishing investigative documents related to hazing findings with minimal redactions.
When The Star requested records related to ATO being placed on probation last year, the outcome letter KU provided was heavily redacted, completely obfuscating the narrative of the hazing allegations that university investigators found to be credible.
The Oct. 30, 2025, letter, signed by Melissa Stewart, KU’s director of student conduct and community standards, notified chapter leaders that ATO had been placed on probation in connection with hazing incidents that occurred in September and October of 2024.
“On September 15, 2024, the Gamma Mu chapter received a report regarding alleged hazing occurring on September 14, 2024. The following information was provided to the Gamma Mu Vice President,” the letter reads, before bars of blacked-out text interrupt the narrative.
“(redacted) during the incident. (redacted) indicated the (redacted) impacted (redacted) by this incident. (redacted) stated the (redacted) intervened in this incident to put an end to what was happening.”
According to the letter, after the chapter’s internal disciplinary board placed members on warning and social probation, another report was made about “hazing occurring on multiple occasions” from October 21-26, 2024.
“The (redacted) instructed (redacted) inside the chapter facility over the course of six consecutive nights,” the letter says. “The (redacted) also instructed to (redacted).”
The letter says that after the second incident, multiple members whose names are redacted were expelled by the fraternity’s disciplinary board. It also says ATO hired a private investigator who determined that “there were no appropriate guardrails in place to prevent hazing.”
Ultimately, KU found that ATO had committed three student conduct violations — “hazing,” “harm to persons,” and “registered organization,” a provision that allows the university to punish student organizations for conduct violations committed by individual members.
Because KU did not respond to The Star’s request for comment, it is unclear whether ATO’s five-year suspension is tied to a new hazing incident from this school year or failure to abide by the chapter’s probationary requirements. According to the October 2025 letter, those requirements included participating in at least one hazing prevention workshop per semester and meeting regularly with university leaders to discuss the culture within the chapter.
KU fraternity hazing violations
Last October, KU opened an investigation into the Delta Upsilon fraternity over allegations that members engaged in hazing and harmful behavior.
Delta Upsilon was previously suspended by the university for four years following a separate hazing investigation. The fraternity was allowed to begin recruiting again in 2022 and the chapter was officially reinstalled in 2023.
Another KU fraternity, Sigma Alpha Epsilon, was sanctioned last September for lying to officials during a hazing investigation into an incident on the first day of fall semester classes when paramedics were called to the fraternity house to render emergency life support for a young member who had lost consciousness.
Other KU fraternities have faced suspensions for hazing in recent years as well, according to the online list of registered organizations that have been sanctioned for violating university rules. The site names groups that have been disciplined since 2018.
Sigma Phi Epsilon was suspended by its national office in 2018 while it investigated allegations of hazing, and the fraternity was placed on probation by the university in March 2018. The probation was to end March 15, 2019.
In January 2019, Pi Kappa Alpha was removed from campus until the fall of 2023 for “harm to persons,” hazing, and alcohol and drug use. And in November 2020, the university shut down Pi Kappa Phi until Dec. 31, 2025, because of repeated violations of the university’s hazing ban and “an open culture of illegal drug use.”
Numerous other fraternities and a handful of sororities have received probation and warnings for hazing in the period from 2018 through the spring 2025 semester. Most of those sanctions had a duration of one year or less. Organizations that are currently under investigation are not included on the list.
Those placed on probation for hazing during that time frame included Theta Chi, Zeta Beta Tau, Alpha Kappa Lambda, Delta Chi, Delta Tau Delta, Sigma Chi, Sigma Pi, Delta Upsilon, Sigma Phi Epsilon and Beta Theta Pi. Kappa Sigma was cited for “harm to persons.”
The Star’s Judy Thomas contributed reporting.
This story was originally published April 6, 2026 at 4:38 PM.
