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Sandra Chapman/Eyewitness News
West Lafayette - Five fraternities suspended by Purdue University - in trouble for hosting parties with alcohol and minors present.
The Boiler Gold Rush. It's supposed to acclimate incoming freshmen at Purdue to campus.
"We heard about some parties but I think they were trying to keep the freshmen, trying to keep freshman out of it," said freshman Logan Verkamp.
The school's Interfraternity Council imposed new regulations banning frat parties during freshman orientation.
"We didn't want any temptation in the way of our freshman. Our freshman are coming in we want them acclimated properly," said Purdue Communications Director Jeanne Norberg. "90% of our freshmen come into this orientation week. And the Interfraternity Council has restricted our fraternity from having any events during that week."
"I don't think I would want to get distracted by alcohol and stuff like that and we're not 21 so it's illegal," said freshman Gibran Syed.
But university officials are taking a hard line and action against a handful of it's 79 fraternities for party violations.
"The university has put 5 of the fraternities on suspension while we investigate," said Norberg. "Five of them in fact have been hosting parties at which freshman have been on campus and have had alcohol available to them."
The five include suspended are: Kappa Delta Rho, Pi Kappa alpha, Sigma Alpha Epsilon, Delta Upsilon and Phi Kappa Psi.
This is the first year of the Freshman Orientation Party Ban. University officials say none of the five accused have a serious history of rules violations. For now, the fraternities are banned from having any events and could face anything from a warning or probation to an extended suspension.
