Hofstra University fraternity Sigma Pi accused of abusive hazing ritual

Some disturbing pictures of alleged abusive hazing of Hofstra students pledging a fraternity were published in the school newspaper Tuesday. According to the Hofstra Chronicle, the photos were emailed

News 12 Staff

Dec 8, 2016, 8:32 AM

Updated 2,856 days ago

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Some disturbing pictures of alleged abusive hazing of Hofstra students pledging a fraternity were published in the school newspaper Tuesday.
According to the Hofstra Chronicle, the photos were emailed to the national organization of Sigma Pi by a former student who claimed he was hazed while pledging back in the spring of last year.
One photo allegedly shows a fall 2015 pledge locked in a small cage. In a separate picture, it shows students shirtless, blindfolded, covered in hot sauce and kneeling in front of a swastika.
The student whistleblower, Syed Mehdi, spoke with News 12 Long Island Wednesday afternoon. He said he was expelled from the university for sexual misconduct. He claims his expulsion was part of a conspiracy to get rid of him because he went public with the hazing allegations.
On March 2, the Grand Council of Sigma Pi sent a letter to Hofstra saying it had revoked its charter for violating the fraternity's standards. It offered no other specific information.
The university then suspended the chapter, but still didn't have any details. In a statement, the university says the national organization sent a legal letter stating, "We respectfully decline to share the content of our internal process."
Hofstra says it did conduct an investigation at the time. Former fraternity members were interviewed and denied any wrongdoing. The school also says it never got any complaints about hazing from Sigma Pi members or pledges.
Mehdi says he did not make the video and pictures public in order to get his former frat brothers in trouble. In fact, he says he destroyed his own phone because it had other images and videos that illustrate hazing.
Sigma Pi officials did not answer News 12's questions regarding the alleged hazing at Hofstra University.
Hofstra says it reached out to the Nassau County Police Department to investigate.