A Rutgers University fraternity this week received the school’s order of cease operations after a student was seriously injured in an incident that is being investigated to determine whether it was hazing.
The student, 19, was found injured and unresponsive when university police officers responded to a location in New Brunswick, New Jersey, near Rutgers’ flagship campus, after a disconnected 911 call shortly before 12:30 a.m. Wednesday, the Middlesex County District Attorney’s Office said in a statement Friday.
He was transported to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, where the district attorney’s office said he was in critical condition. The student has not been publicly identified.
The chapter was ordered by the university to cease all activity and is subject to “social probation” until Nov. 3, as well as “organizational disciplinary probation” until May 18, according to a university notice released Wednesday.
In a statement to NBC New York, Gordy Heminger, president and CEO of Alpha Sigma Phi, said the fraternity had suspended its Rutgers chapter and was investigating whether hazing had occurred.
“If it is determined by the Fraternity, the University or law enforcement that undergraduate members were hazed that evening, the chapter will be closed, any member who directly or indirectly participated in these activities will be permanently expelled, and the Fraternity will encourage the University and law enforcement to implement the maximum sanction permitted,” Heminger said.
He said the fraternity regularly informs chapters and members of its policies regarding hazing, for which it has no tolerance, and added that the Rutgers chapter received training on the subject last month.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the young man in the hospital and his family,” Heminger said.
NBC News was unable to reach a representative for the Rutgers fraternity chapter.
A Rutgers spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment Saturday. University police and the Middlesex County District Attorney’s Office did not immediately respond to requests for possible updates on the investigation.
The prosecutor’s office asked anyone with information that could help the investigation to contact detectives.
