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The Kappa Alpha Order fraternity at the University of Oklahoma has been suddenly and mysteriously shut down and no one on campus knows why.
The fraternity’s national organization did release a statement, however, it did not specify why the fraternity had been closed. Current members must move out of the fraternity house, which is located at 1501 Elm Ave in Norman, Oklahoma.
The Kappa Alpha Order organization released the following brief statement to The Norman Transcript:
“The National Administrative Office of Kappa Alpha Order has closed the local OU chapter. The Kappa Alpha Order national staff and OU administrators are working together to reach a mutual agreement on a specific return timeframe.”
However, other than that brief statement, fraternity officials have not given any details on why the chapter was closed. The university’s student-run television news outlet reported that the closure was due to an investigation into hazing practices.
OU Police Department officials said they do not have an open investigation into the fraternity. University officials said they will provide affected students with information about alternative housing options.
The closure of Kappa Alpha Order at the University of Oklahoma is the latest major fraternity or sorority lawsuit, investigation, suspension or closure in the last year, as schools such as Indiana University, the University of Michigan, Ohio State University, Texas State, Florida State, Ball State, Louisiana State and Penn State have all suspended fraternities in the wake of hazing and alcohol deaths.
These reports come amidst similar allegations that have been made against fraternities nationwide, including Sigma Alpha Epsilon at East Carolina University, who was shut down for hazing and the Lambda Chi Alpha chapter at the University of Arkansas which has been accused of taking sexually explicit photographs of women without their permission.
In response to incidents like these, fraternities such Phi Kappa Psi have made numerous changes to their code of conduct in an effort to address the issues that have arisen. In addition, schools such as Texas State, West Virginia University, and Penn State University have introduced new Greek Life rules to try and prevent these problems.
