Pennsylvania College Interrupts amid Reaction to Leaked Letters

A suburban college in Philadelphia suspended any fraternity activity on campus after outrage over leaking documents containing offensive comments about women, minorities and the LGBTQ community, as well as jokes about sexual assault allegedly written by former members of one of his fraternities.

The President of Swarthmore College, Valerie Smith, said in a letter to students this weekend that the private liberal arts school in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, had received "unexpurgated documents" that would have belonged to the fraternity Phi Psi and who surfaced at the beginning of the month.

"We consulted an external investigator," Smith said. "In consultation with the investigator, I decided to suspend fraternity activities pending the results of an investigation."

The controversy erupted earlier this month when two campus publications – Voices and the Phoenix – published the redacted internal letters allegedly written between 2012 and 2016 by members of the Phi Psi fraternity of the time. The publications say that the documents were disclosed anonymously.

The documents labeled "minutes" are allegedly "second-hand summaries of the activities of Phi Psi members," the Phoenix reported.

The headquarters of the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity stated that the Phi Psi fraternity of Swarthmore College had no affiliation with their organization but that it was "shocked by their actions".

"In contrast, the composition of Phi Kappa Psi is diverse and our policies have never restricted ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation or physical abilities," said Phi Kappa Psi in a statement.

The articles sparked protests from students who demanded that Phi Psi's school farm and its only other fraternity, Delta Upsilon, and that the rented buildings be used for other purposes.

During the weekend, students staged a sit-in inside and outside the Phi Psi house, which continued until Monday.

The 18-year-old Swarthmore recruit, Amal Haddad, is one of about 70 student protesters who were at Phi Psy's home on Monday.

"We do not plan to leave at this time until the university does not respond to our requests," Haddad told NBC News during a telephone interview since the summer. inside the building of the university.

Swarthmore is among the most selective colleges in the country with an acceptance rate of 11%. Tuition fees for the 2018-2019 school year cost more than $ 52,000 without accommodation.