(Reuters) - The University of Houston has suspended a chapter of the Sigma Chi fraternity and five of its members over a suspected hazing incident the school described as a criminal act.
"I am shocked, dismayed and deeply disappointed that allegations of this nature have arisen on our campus," President Renu Khator said in a statement late on Tuesday.
The school did not disclose details of the incident or names of the students who had been suspended. It said it has turned over evidence to Houston police and local prosecutors to determine what charges, if any, to file.
The incident comes amid increased attention on fraternities in the United States after the University of Oklahoma this month shut the chapter of Sigma Alpha Epsilon at the school for a video where its members were seen singing a racist song.
The headquarters of Sigma Chi said it received information in January of inappropriate pledging activities. It suspended the chapter for an indefinite period of time and notified the university.
"Hazing, in all of its ugly forms, will be eliminated from Sigma Chi," the group's international president, Michael Greenberg, said in the statement.
(Reporting by Jon Herskovitz; Editing by Doina Chiacu)
