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Two fraternities on the West Virginia University campus in Morgantown were raided Monday night.
The WVU Police Department confirms it served search warrants at the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity and the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity.
A university statement said the raids were part of an ongoing investigation into allegations of hazing. Lambda Chi Alpha was placed on interim suspension earlier this month over repeated allegations of hazing.
“Due to the nature of the investigations, no other details will be released at this time,” said the university statement. “We will provide updates as they become available.”
Samantha Smith, managing editor at The Daily Athenaeum, was in the newspaper office when reports of the raid began surfacing online around 10 p.m. She grabbed her camera and headed to the scene.
“When I got there, I had never seen so many people out on High Street like that. It looked like a block party, there was music playing, people were cheering, everyone had their phones,” Smith said. “The neighboring frats were playing music. It was a really like surreal experience.”
Credit: The Daily Athenaeum
Both fraternities have faced suspension in the past. Pi Kappa Alpha was one of several fraternities disciplined in 2018 for allegedly failing to implement new university regulations. Lambda Chi was suspended in 2023 and 2024 over university concerns that the members had failed to monitor and prevent underage drinking.
Smith said the second fraternity had a less-than-stellar reputation on campus.
“Since I’ve been a freshman on campus, there’s always been this connotation with Lambda, I feel like among the campus community. We had always heard, like, don’t go to Lambda or, like, stay away from them,” she said.
Neither fraternity responded to a request for comment.