Texas State University Suspends Pi Kappa Psi Fraternity for 7 Years

Texas State University Suspends Pi Kappa Psi Fraternity for 7 Years

Suspension comes after student was brutally assaulted by fraternity members

Texas State University has suspended its chapter of the Pi Kappa Psi fraternity for 7 years following an investigation into an October 2019 incident in which a student was attacked and brutally beaten after he was mistaken for a member of a rival fraternity. The suspension comes after the fraternity, its national headquarters, and three fraternity members were named as defendants in a $1 million lawsuit.

According to the lawsuit, Nikolas Panagiotopoulos was walking past the Pi Kappa Phi fraternity house in San Marcos when he harassed by fraternity members. When he attempted to flee he was chased, tackled, and beaten unconscious by several Pi Kappa Phi members. Since that time, the lawsuit alleges, Panagiotopoulos has been confined to a wheelchair and has lost his sense of smell as a result of a traumatic brain injury received in the assault.

“It’s not just this campus; it’s many campuses where we’re seeing a lack of institutional control by these fraternities and allowing this to go on. Something has to change,” Jay Harvey told KVUE-TV of Austin. That station also aired a cellphone video of the assault which shows a man later identified as Panagiotopoulos being kicked and beaten while a female voice is heard yelling “Stop it!”

About Pi Kappa Psi

According to its website Pi Kappa Psi was founded in 1904 at the University of Charleston (SC) and, as of 2017, had 187 “active” chapters and a total of 145,000 collegiate and lifetime (alumni) members. It proclaims its “ Public Values” to be “Common Loyalty, Personal Responsibility, Achievement, Accountability, Campus Involvement, Responsible Citizenship, and Lifelong Commitment.” While these “values” are indeed noble, the fraternity’s record suggests otherwise.

Pi Kappa Phi has a less-than-outstanding record

To say that Pi Kappa Phi chapters have a record of “misconduct” is an understatement! The fraternity’s past history includes, but is not limited to, the following incidents.

• October 2019: The University of Texas-Austin suspended the fraternity for 4 years over violations of the school’s anti-hazing policies.

• July 2017: The fraternity’s “founding chapter” at the University of Charleston was suspended for 2 years over anti-hazing and alcohol policy violations.

• November 2017: Andrew Coffey, a pledge at the Florida State chapter, died shortly after being found unresponsive at an off-campus residence that was used by the fraternity as a “party house.”

• November 2017: The Central Michigan University chapter was “suspended indefinitely” for violating the school’s anti-hazing and code of conduct policies while it was on probation for previous violations of the same policies.

• January 2016: An unnamed female was reported to have been raped at the fraternity house at Purdue University.

• April 2016: The Miami (OH) University chapter was suspended for 3 years over violations of the school’s anti-hazing and alcohol policies.

• October 2016: A 16-year-old girl was raped while unconscious at the University of South Florida Pi Kappa Phi fraternity house.

• March 2015: The Elon University chapter was suspended for 2 years for hazing.

• April 2015: The Penn State chapter was suspended for 3 years over repeated violations of ant-hazing and alcohol policies.

• July 2014: Armando Villa, a pledge at the California State University-Northridge chapter, died during a “hike” in the Angeles National Forest. According to a subsequent wrongful death lawsuit filed against the fraternity, Villa and other pledges were left barefoot and without water in rugged terrain and were expected to find their way back to the fraternity house. The fraternity was expelled from campus and its national charter was revoked.

Contacting a fraternity hazing injury lawyer

As Mr. Harvey noted in his television statement, the problem of fraternity hazing is nationwide in its scope and many schools are less-than-vigilant in their supervision of fraternity activities. At The Doan Law Firm, our fraternity hazing database has documented an average of 120 fraternity suspensions per year over the last 4 years!

If your child has been injured as a result of fraternity hazing or some other form of misconduct, we invite you to contact the fraternity hazing injury lawyer at The Doan Law Firm to arrange a free, confidential, review of the facts in your child’s fraternity hazing injury case and a discussion of the legal options that may be available to you.

When you contact our firm, your case review and first consultation with our fraternity hazing injury lawyer are always free and do not obligate you hiring us as your legal counsel. Should you decide that a lawsuit is in order, and that you would like to have our firm represent you in court, we are willing to assume full responsibility for all aspects of preparing your case for trial in exchange for an agreed-upon percentage of the final settlement that we are prepared to win for you.