TALLAHASSEE, Fla., Sept. 5 (UPI) -- A Florida A&M University student dance team was suspended after a parent reported hazing occurred during an off-campus event, the university said.
In a statement issued Tuesday, the Tallahassee university said the anonymous tip charged that the Torque Dance Team conducted a hazing incident involving alcohol and "running up hills" during the Labor Day weekend, CNN reported.
"The university takes very seriously any allegation of hazing and has moved quickly to shut the organization down pending the outcome of an investigation," interim President Larry Robinson said in the statement. "We have zero tolerance for hazing. It's deplorable and will not be tolerated. It is unconscionable that a student organization would participate in any hazing activity considering what has transpired in the past year."
The suspension of the all-female dance team came less than a year after a drum major in the school's marching band died following a post-game hazing ritual, CNN said.
In November 2011, drum major Robert Champion, 26, died after he was beaten during a hazing ritual on a band bus after a football game. The incident drew national attention and a police investigation resulted in 14 people facing charges that include third-degree felony hazing resulting in death, and first-degree misdemeanor hazing.
Since November, the band director retired, the university's president stepped aside and the band was suspended through the 2012-13 school year. Champion's parents in July sued the university's board of trustees, the bus company and the bus driver.
