Suspended Penn State fraternity charged with organizational hazing
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Phi Beta Sigma charged under Pennsylvania's anti-hazing law for abuse of pledges
- Police cited physical assaults, isolation tactics and evidence from seized phones
- Fraternity leaders waived hearings; pre-trial conferences set for September 2025
A Penn State fraternity was charged Thursday with joining in a conspiracy to haze pledges, a misdemeanor that comes about two months after the leaders of the off-campus organization were charged.
Phi Beta Sigma, 130 Farmstead Lane in Ferguson Township, is believed to be the first Penn State fraternity charged for organizational hazing under the Timothy J. Piazza Antihazing Law.
Dean Jacob D. Francis, 23, and President Jayson Archer, 21, were each charged in with misdemeanor counts of simple assault and hazing. The university said the chapter was on interim suspension since mid-March.
Francis and Archer were restricted from campus except to complete their final exams for the spring semester. They were restricted from campus beginning May 10.
The affidavit of probable cause filed Thursday against the fraternity was nearly identical to the one filed against the two men.
Francis was accused of hitting new members with wooden paddles, punching them in the chest and isolating them. In an anonymous tip sent to university police in March, a pledge said it left new members feeling “humiliated, fearful, and broken.”
Archer was accused of overseeing the alleged hazing. A township police officer was told the of “potential minor bruising” and fainting.
The anonymous tip said recruits had to “endure the pain to be a part of the brotherhood” and “bleed, both literally and figuratively, to be accepted.”
“This has been going on for months, and it has emotionally and physically scarred us. We’ve been made to feel that if we don’t endure this, we’re not worthy of being part of the fraternity,” the person wrote. “This is not brotherhood it’s abuse. We can’t stay silent any longer. this has to stop please help us!”
One prospective member told investigators pledges were either paddled on the buttocks or punched in the chest 10 times if they were unable to recite facts about the organization. They said they sometimes wore extra pants to avoid bruising.
Investigators were also told pledges were required to share their location, in part, because they were only allowed to speak with other fraternity members. They said the process was “socially isolating,” police wrote.
Two other pledges who were interviewed did not report hazing and denied many of the claims, including physical harm or forced physical activity. But police said multiple paddles seized during a March search and cellphone messages undermined what they said and corroborated what was reported to Penn State. There were discussions of physical activity, paddling and location tracking, police wrote.
“If you get seriously hurt during this because the punishments are only going to get harder and the information we have to learn is only going to get harder, then you could put yourself and the fraternity at risk,” one member said in an October message.
The fraternity was charged by summons and it was address to Archer, the fraternity president. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Aug. 13.
Francis and Archer each waived their preliminary hearing in June. Each has a pre-trial conference scheduled for Sept. 15.
They’re believed to be the first charged in Centre County under the state’s anti-hazing law, which went into effect in November 2018. The law was prompted by the February 2017 death of Piazza, a 19-year-old Penn State sophomore engineering student who died of severe head and abdominal injuries after a series of falls inside the now-shuttered Beta Theta Pi house.
Ferguson Township police said it was the first hazing report the department received since the state law went into effect, as well as the federal Stop Campus Hazing Act.