Fraternity banned from Pennsylvania campuses after pledge's hazing death

John Bacon | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Pennsylvania bans Pi Delta Psi fraternity after hazing death The Pi Delta Psi national fraternity has been banned from operating in Pennsylvania for 10 years, a judge ruled Monday, over the 2013 hazing death of a 19-year-old Baruch College student.

A national fraternity has been banned from all campuses in the state of Pennsylvania and four fraternity members have been sentenced to jail in the 2013 hazing death of Baruch College freshman Michael Deng.

Deng, 18, was a pledge at the Asian-American cultural fraternity Pi Delta Psi at the school in New York City when the hazing ritual took place at a rented home near Long Pond, Pa.

Deng was forced to run across the yard blindfolded with a heavy backpack while fraternity brothers repeatedly tackled him. Fraternity members say the hazing ritual, known as the "glass ceiling," symbolizes the racism and other obstacles Asian face in America.

Testimony indicated Deng faced more violent hazing than the other pledges because he attempted to fight back. When Deng was knocked unconscious, the fraternity members brought him into the house and attempted to revive him before racing him to a hospital where he died.

“Not one person out of 37 picked up a telephone and called an ambulance,” Monroe County President Judge Margherita Patti-Worthington said at the sentencing Monday in Stroudsburg, Pa. "I cannot wrap my head around it."

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Fraternity member Kenny Kwan was sentenced to 12-24 months in jail and Charles Lai and Sheldon Wong to 10-24 months after pleading guilty to voluntary manslaughter, hindering apprehension and other charges. Raymond Lai, who already spent 342 days in jail, was sentenced to time served.

All expressed remorse for their role in Deng's death.

The judge ordered Pi Delta Psi to pay a fine and restitution totaling about $140,000 and banned the fraternity from all Pennsylvania campuses for 10 years. The fraternity has a chapter at Penn State, where the February hazing death of Timothy Piazza prompted major changes in Greek life and the ouster from campus of his fraternity, Beta Theta Pi.

Pi Delta Psi describes itself online as "an Asian cultural interest fraternity fostering ethical behavior, leadership, and philanthropy. Excellence Through Brotherhood." The fraternity boasts about two dozen chapters, most in the Northeast.

The fraternity issued a statement saying the Baruch College chapter had brought "shame and dishonor" on the the national organization.

Deng's family issued a statement expressing hope that the punishments will "save lives by sending a clear message to other fraternities and their members that the outrageous tradition of hazing will no longer be tolerated and must be ended once and for all.”

Contributing: The Associated Press