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Fraternity at UCF disbanded over hazing

National SAE officials are "disgusted" by a report of drunkenness and humiliation.

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published November 10, 2006

ORLANDO - One of the 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.

Oct. 26, police said, an anonymous caller reported hearing screaming, sobbing and moaning coming from the house. Police found pledges crawling on their hands and knees and wearing items such as diapers, a striped prison uniform and women's underwear. The house smelled of beer, urine and vomit.

Three men, one who was vomiting and having trouble breathing, were treated at a hospital.

Weghorst said SAE board members were "disgusted" by the report. "Our board does not feel it's worth the effort to rehabilitate the group," he said.

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.

UCF spokeswoman Linda Gray said the school tries to inform and educate students on hazing, "yet still sometimes young people make unfortunate and tragic decisions."

[Last modified November 10, 2006, 00:50:20]