Temporary Suspension Lifted

On November 19th , Penn State University lifted a temporary suspension it had placed on the Alpha Delta chapter of Chi Phi in the wake of a tragic event that occurred the weekend of the Penn State vs. Michigan football game. On October 19th, John “Jack” Schoenig died at a rental house on 522 West College Ave. Jack was a high school student visiting friends in State College. Jack’s parents received the phone call that every parent lives in fear of getting and are dealing with the most difficult times imaginable. Our hearts and prayers go out to them.

With regard to Chi Phi’s role, the house where the events unfolded was rented by eight men; six active members of Chi Phi, a Chi Phi alumnus, and one person that was not affiliated with Chi Phi. Once the Office of Student Conduct discovered that the house was occupied by six active members of Chi Phi, it imposed a very restrictive temporary suspension on the fraternity ceasing all chapter operations until it could determine if the actions of the fraternity contributed to this tragic event. While the media immediately assumed that the suspension meant that the fraternity was responsible for the death of another student, in fact, the suspension was put in place as a “time out” while the University could determine exactly what happened. Both the fraternity and active brothers fully cooperated with the authorities in the investigation.

The county coroner’s office announced that the cause of death was chemical asphyxia that was ruled as accidental. Through its own investigation, the Office of Student Conduct found that the incident took place in an individual’s private room, that individual was not an active member of Chi Phi or a student (he was the Chi Phi alumnus), there were no active members of Chi Phi in the room leading up to and at the time the young man went into cardiac arrest, and that there was no party taking place at the house around the time of the tragedy. As a result of these findings, the university has now lifted the temporary suspension on our fraternity as they relate to the tragic event that took place at 522 West College Ave.