UVM sorority placed on interim suspension

A University of Vermont sorority has been placed on an interim suspension by university officials after some "questionable" images were posted on social media.

The Alpha Chi Omega sorority will be placed under review by the chapter's national headquarters. The images of concern showed member's heads photoshopped onto other images, said Pat Brown, director of student life and the Davis Center.

"They were all sorts of images that don't represent the values of the organization," he said, adding that some of the photos suggested sexism. Brown did not go into specifics about the images.

"There was some representation of people in ways that they would probably want to step back and ask if that is how they want to be represented," he said.

The UVM chapter, referred to as the Alpha Iota chapter, started in 1921. The chapter currently has 70 members, according to the sorority's website.

Brown said he has asked the sorority's Indianapolis headquarters to do a review and report back to the university. He hopes to hear a response in the next few days.

Officials at the sorority's headquarters declined to comment.

News of the suspension was first reported the UVM student newspaper, the Vermont Cynic.

Brown, the student life director, said he regularly reviews student organizations. Three to six organizations are placed on interim suspension each year.

"There is sometimes a collection of information about things that are going on that are concern enough that the organization needs to stop what they are doing until we figure out what is going on," he said.

Contact Haley Dover at 660-1850 or hdover@freepressmedia.com. Follow Haley on Twitter at www.twitter.com/HaleyRDover.