University of Iowa

Hazing · Alpha Delta Phi

Police responding to a fire alarm in November 2024 found 56 blindfolded pledges in the chapter house basement with food thrown on them.

Status: The chapter was placed on interim suspension by the university and suspended by its national organization in November 2024. A non-student was charged with interference with official acts.

Response: The university's Office of Student Accountability ordered all operations suspended pending investigation. The national organization also suspended the chapter.

Hazing · Acacia

A university report cited verbal abuse and forced drinking of new members. In one allegation, new members were ordered to stay in the house attic until they drank 60 to 90 cans of beer plus vodka and a gallon of 'jungle juice', and several became ill.

Status: Found to have violated university hazing rules.

Response: The university suspended the chapter through 2024.

Sexual assault · Phi Gamma Delta

A lawsuit alleges that two then-members sexually assaulted an intoxicated student at a chapter party in September 2020, recorded it and shared the footage in a chapter group chat. It also alleges other members told people to delete the footage.

Status: Civil lawsuit filed October 2021 in Johnson County District Court against the chapter, its corporate entity and its educational foundation. As of October 2021 the criminal investigation was open and no charges had been filed.

Response: The chapter removed the two members. Police executed search warrants in 2020. The university ran a chapter review after protests in 2021.

Multiple · Sigma Alpha Epsilon

The national organization closed the Iowa Beta chapter in 2012 for hazing and policy violations. Separately, a sexual assault was reported at the chapter house that September.

Status: The chapter was suspended and about 60 members expelled by the national organization in September 2012. Police were investigating the reported assault, and no charges had been filed as of the report.

Response: National headquarters suspended the chapter and expelled its members.

College staff misconduct · Accused: former political science professor

Years of abuse: 2008

In spring 2008 a political science professor was accused by police of pressuring four female students in his class to show him or let him touch their breasts in exchange for higher grades. One of the students later sued the university, alleging it failed to act promptly after learning of the complaints.

Status: Charged in 2008 with four counts of accepting bribes. He died before trial, so the allegations were never tested in court. A student's civil lawsuit against the university settled in 2012 (reported as $130,000).

Response: The professor was placed on paid leave and barred from contact with students while the university investigated. The university settled the student's lawsuit in 2012.