Update, 5:34 p.m.:

Penn State expressed unease regarding the new State College Interfraternity Council in a statement to Onward State.

“We just learned of this development today, and it is deeply concerning, particularly given that two of these organizations have been suspended for violations and high-risk activities,” a Penn State spokesperson wrote. “We are in the process of gathering more information about this development and will have more to share soon.”

Original post:

Three Penn State-based fraternities — Tau Kappa Epsilon, Sigma Chi, and Pi Kappa Alpha — have joined together to form the State College Interfraternity Council (SCIFC), the newly formed organization announced Friday morning.

Each of the three fraternities is no longer affiliated with Penn State, and the SCIFC won’t affiliate with the university, either. However, they said their end goal was to work in tandem with the university.

“The SCIFC’s mission is twofold: to cultivate a stronger sense of brotherhood among its members and to make a meaningful impact on the State College community through dedicated service initiatives,” the SCIFC said in a release. “The council aims to foster an environment where members can develop leadership skills, build lasting relationships, and contribute to the betterment of their surroundings.”

The SCIFC will be student-run and student-governed, Sam Lanza, the organization’s president and former Sigma Chi president, said at a Friday press conference. Lanza also said the SCIFC was interested in welcoming other fraternities that would go independent from Penn State.

All three fraternities creating the SCIFC were already independent from the university. Sigma Chi was suspended through fall 2024 for violation of COVID-19 policies and opted not to return as a university-recognized fraternity, Tau Kappa Epsilon went independent in August 2024, and Pi Kappa Alpha was suspended through fall 2025 for “repeated violations” of university policy.

A key part of creating the independent IFC, the organization said, was getting away from the 2019 Piazza agreement made between Penn State and the family of Tim Piazza, a sophomore who died as a result of hazing at Beta Theta Pi in 2017.

“The bottom line is that we want our chapter to be free from the compliance environment that has existed since the Piazza agreement went into place,” Lanza said.

The Piazza agreement came about in 2019 when Penn State reached a settlement with the Piazza family, and the agreement between the Piazzas and Penn State gave the university more control over Greek life and created stricter compliance guidelines.

The SCIFC declined to answer questions about the Piazza agreement in the press conference, but Jim Edwards, a Sigma Phi Epsilon alum and president of the Lion Fraternity Alumni Association, spoke to Onward State about issues with the Piazza agreement after the press conference.

Edwards said the fraternities took issue with not being able to recruit freshmen and not having their own judicial system. The SCIFC will work to recruit freshmen during the fall semester and get them into fraternity houses before their sophomore year, which Edwards said will make the new brothers better neighbors and more understanding of their fraternities’ standards and goals.

The SCIFC will feature its own student-run judicial system for dealing with complaints or possible violations. The organization confirmed it would potentially suspend fraternities in violation of hazing protocols in what it called a “compliance-focused environment.”

The SCIFC will partner with Standing Stone Consulting for security and risk management, and the organization said the fraternities will take a proactive approach to their risk management.

The SCIFC will also introduce a Greek ID card in fall 2025, which it said will track attendees at events and promote accountability. The ID card will also work in students’ digital wallets, so attendees will just need their phones on them to attend an event.

“Fraternities at Penn State were founded over 140 years ago as independent organizations and today we are charting a new independent course with the State College IFC,” Lanza said in a release. “The SCIFC is committed to creating a fraternity experience that is both personally enriching and socially responsible. We are incredibly proud that all three fraternities’ international headquarters fully support this effort and share our vision for a more impactful and locally driven Greek system.”