ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Zeta Beta Tau, a house with a history of running afoul of Interfraternity Council rules and regulations, has been expelled from campus.

IFC spokesman Brian Millman said the board expelled ZBT last week for recruiting pledges in defiance of the terms of its one-year suspension from the IFC.

The IFC oversees social fraternities at the University of Michigan. It is made up of representatives from campus fraternities.

ZBT was suspended last November when an investigation conducted by the the Hazing Task Force discovered that it had violated hazing rules by forcing pledges to eat, drink and exercise excessively.

The suspension banned the fraternity from IFC meetings, greek events and recruitment activities. That meant it wasn’t allowed to have a pledge class this semester.

But when the University’s office of greek life began receiving reports that ZBT did, in fact, have a pledge class, the panel began an investigation.

The investigation found that ZBT held events at which members interacted with freshmen and “organized with the intent to recruit,” Millman said.

Instead of increasing the length of ZBT’s suspension, as the panel has done for other fraternities that have breached sanctions, the panel decided to use the most severe penalty available and expel the fraternity.

“ZBT’s continued indifference toward the values embraced by the Greek community has demonstrated its inability to function as a contributing member of the Interfraternity Council at the University of Michigan,” Millman and IFC President Jon Krasnov said in a written statement.

This isn’t the first time the IFC has expelled the fraternity.

ZBT was suspended in April 2000 for a hazing incident in which a pledge was burned with bleach. That fall, the fraternity was expelled after it failed to send a representative to IFC meetings, a condition of its suspension.

The fraternity was reinstated in 2001 after appealing to the IFC as part of the council’s effort that year to expand the number of houses on campus.

ZBT President Benji Fischer said his fraternity will appeal the expulsion, claiming that it did not violate suspension sanctions.

He said that until the results of the appeal are known, ZBT will not comment on its expulsion.