Fla. fraternity chapter suspended

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla., Aug. 31 (UPI) -- A fraternity at a Florida university has been suspended during an investigation of alleged off-campus hazing, campus officials said Monday.

Police say the alleged hazing incidents involving the University of South Florida chapter of the Omega Psi Phi fraternity took place on the nights of Aug. 22 and Aug. 23, the St. Petersburg Times reported Monday.

Authorities are not saying what happened in the incidents, but detectives have conducted "numerous interviews" with potential victims, suspects and witnesses, Tampa police spokeswoman Laura McElroy said.

"We are investigating to determine if a crime occurred," she said.

None of the potential suspects is a current USF student, no arrests have been made and the investigation is expected to take several days, police said.

Omega Psi Phi boasts an impressive roster of alumni, including Bill Cosby, poet Langston Hughes, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, Michael Jordan, Shaquille O'Neal and Florida Democratic Senate nominee Kendrick Meek, the Times said.

These are not the first allegations of hazing against the national fraternity.

In May, the fraternity's chapter at Purdue University was suspended. In April, a University of Houston senior sued the fraternity, claiming hazing put him in the emergency room. In 2003, the fraternity itself expelled 13 members in Huntsville, Ala., following hazing allegations, and in 2000, Omega Psi Phi agreed to pay $1 million to a former University of Louisville student beaten in a hazing incident in 1997.

Christopher M. Cooper, grand counselor of the fraternity's national organization, said he couldn't comment on the USF allegations, but said Omega Psi Phi "is vehemently opposed to any form of hazing and has a zero-tolerance policy."