IUP disciplines cheerleaders for hazing involving alcohol

Indiana University of Pennsylvania has remained mum on whether its cheerleading squad will be allowed to perform along the sidelines for the Crimson Hawks this football season.

The squad was disciplined over the summer for forcing new members to participate in alcohol-related events, requiring underage members to assist in buying beer kegs and collecting money for them to buy the alcohol.

An IUP internal investigation found the hazing occurred from fall 2023 through this spring, resulting in IUP placing the squad on a “stayed removal of recognition” for the entire school year, according to its Campus Hazing Transparency Report.

There will be a restriction on team activities and unspecified educational and developmental requirements, followed by being placed on probation from May 2026 through May 2030, the university said.

Michelle Fryling, an IUP spokeswoman, said Sunday she does not have specific information on what the cheerleading squad will or will not do regarding cheering at the football games. The team’s first home game is Sept. 4 at the George P. Miller Stadium on campus.

“We hold our students and our student organizations to established standards of conduct, and we follow established university policies when those standards are not met,” IUP said in a statement last week.

The university said it was informed on May 5 of the hazing allegations and launched an internal investigation the following day. The findings were released July 10 and the cheerleading squad was informed of the discipline, IUP stated. The website lists discipline measures as of Aug. 1.

As part of the hazing, new members of the squad were forced to engage in unsafe practices during routine training dates, according to the report.

The IUP website has a detailed anti-hazing policy signed by President Michael Driscoll on June 4 that defines hazing as a knowing, or reckless, act committed against a person or other persons, regardless of their willingness to participate. That hazing includes actions committed in the course of an initiation into or an affiliation with the organization or maintaining membership in that student organization.