One of University of Central Florida's oldest fraternities has been disbanded by its national headquarters following allegations of a hazing incident involving heavy drinking and pledges wearing women's underwear.
Sigma Alpha Epsilon will be closed effective immediately, Brandon Weghorst, a spokesman for the Evanston, Ill.-based fraternity said Wednesday. Board members were "disgusted" by what they read in a police report describing what occurred at the fraternity house Oct. 26.
"Our board does not feel it's worth the effort to rehabilitate the group," Weghorst said.
An anonymous caller contacted police after hearing screaming, sobbing and moaning coming from the house, police said. They found pledges crawling on their hands and knees and wearing items such as diapers, a striped prison uniform and women's underwear, reports said.
Three men, one who was vomiting and having trouble breathing, were taken to a hospital and released, police said. Authorities reported the house smelled of beer, urine and vomit.
"It goes against everything we stand for," Weghorst said.
Campus police, administrators and SAE officials were investigating the incident as a possible hazing.
Members who participated could lose their SAE membership for life, Weghorst said. The number involved could be as high as two-thirds of the chapter's approximately 90 members, he said.
SAE had been at the school since the university opened in 1968. The fraternity was suspended for a year in 2003 for a suspected hazing.