University of Maryland lifts suspension order on fraternities and sororities

The University of Maryland on Friday lifted the cease and desist order it had placed on fraternities and sororities, saying it had finished a review of allegations related to hazing and alcohol use but would continue its probe through the Office of Student Conduct.

Thirty-two fraternity chapters have been “cleared to return to normal activities,” the university said in a statement emailed late Friday.

However, five fraternity chapters will remain under investigation and will be subject to “limited restrictions” on activities during that time, the university said.

“As a result of evidence suggesting involvement in hazing or other incidents that threatened the health and safety of our campus community,” the university said, individual students from the five fraternities will be referred for violations of the student conduct code.

In a letter to students, Patricia A. Perillo, vice president of student affairs, said the university acted out of caution in suspending the Greek organizations.

“We recognize that temporarily pausing select activities has had an effect on our fraternity and sorority members, particularly new members. However, we chose a course of action that prioritized safety and prevention,” Perillo wrote.

The lifting of the suspension was first reported by The Diamondback, the university’s student-run newspaper.

The University of Maryland faces a hearing in federal court Monday to respond to a complaint filed by four fraternities and three students over the university’s suspension of their activities.

Perillo was among officials named in the complaint as students sought a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction against the university. James McShay, the interim director of fraternity and sorority life, James Bond, the director of student conduct, and Darryll Pines, the university president, were also named as defendants.

Assistant Maryland Attorney General Lillian L. Reynolds filed paperwork Thursday to represent the school and its officials.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Deborah L. Boardman was scheduled to oversee the 1 p.m. hearing set for Monday in the U.S. District Court for Maryland. It was not clear Friday how the university’s lifting of the suspension would effect the hearing.

The complaint centers on a March 1 letter to Greek-letter organizations that prohibited students from communicating with potential new members and from all social events involving alcohol. The order applied to 37 fraternities and sororities in the Interfraternity Council or the Panhellenic Association.

“You may wish to review the Code of Student Conduct and the University’s Hazing Policy,” James Bond, the director of student conduct, wrote in the letter.

The university said at the time that it was investigating widespread allegations of health and safety infractions in the organizations’ new member initiation processes.

The Baltimore Sun previously reported that the university’s letter referenced a Feb. 29 emergency meeting where chapters were warned that further allegations of misconduct could result in cease-and-desist orders.

The Diamondback reported that multiple chapters within the school’s Interfraternity Council and Panhellenic Council were conducting activities that “threatened the safety and well-being of members of the university community.”

Despite the warning, fraternity and sorority organizations were reported for incidents of misconduct which led to the communications ban without exceptions, Bond said in the letter.

On March 6, the university sent out another letter specifying that the communications ban does not apply to school, work, other student groups or any other topics of conversations outside Greek-letter organization-related activities.

However, members of the chapter were not able to speak to one another about what the university was doing, a limitation that attorneys representing some of the university’s fraternities in the petition, said was a violation of First Amendment rights.

The Alpha Psi chapter of Theta Chi fraternity, Betta Kappa chapter of Kappa Alpha order, Epsilon Delta chapter of Alpha Sigma Phi fraternity, Epsilon Gamma chapter of Alpha Tau Omega fraternity and three unnamed fraternity members are listed as plaintiffs in the petition.

Baltimore Sun reporter Tony Roberts contributed to this article.