The suspension is hinged on an initial review of emails that "suggest the chapter has and is engaging in hazing activities, service of alcohol to minors and behavior that threatens physical harm," College spokesperson Justin Anderson said in email.
Beta president Ned Kingsley '14 said he could not comment on the details of the case due to the ongoing investigation.
"We are fully cooperating with them in their investigation, and [GLOS director] Wes Schaub and the rest of GLOS have been very helpful in working with us through this process," Kingsley said in an email.
Schaub declined to comment on the situation, and undergraduate judicial affairs director Leigh Remy did not respond to requests for comment.
The emails, released when a Gawker reporter found that Beta's Google group was public, include conversations about new member activities.
In an email to the group, a Beta executive encouraged members not to forward the Google emails to their Dartmouth emails, because "that would defeat the point."
One email includes a four-page document with instructions for Beta's sink night, during which new members are taken through six themed "stations" in the house.
"Never let a pledge take more than one shot at your station," the email said. "It is not worth the risk. If they get two things wrong, make someone else drink and say it's because you've heard Pledge X is a pussy who can't handle it.'"
The document also instructed members to ask the new members if they are drinking and to "never force a pledge to drink."
Another email included new members' pledge nicknames and responsibilities for the term. Tasks included wearing sorority clothing, posing as a '17 and playing pong in another fraternity's basement and having various food items on hand to provide to members.
The College investigates all hazing allegations and is required by law to inform the Hanover Police of its findings.
"Violations of the student hazing policy will be subject to individual or organizational disciplinary action," Anderson said.
The College decided to place Beta on suspension following concern that the "chapter posed a risk to the safety of community members," Anderson said.
New Hampshire outlaws hazing, which is defined as an act "likely to cause physical or psychological injury to any person" and is a "condition of initiation into, admission into, continued membership in or association with any organization."
In an interview with the Valley News, Hanover police captain Frank Moran said his initial review of the emails did not indicate criminal hazing.
"Unless somebody provided some information that would support critical elements of criminal hazing, it doesn't appear that we have criminal hazing," Moran said.
Moran said he is more focused on the possibility of underage drinking and will work with college administrators to see if the department needs to investigate further.
Last June, Alpha Delta fraternity pled guilty to two charges of providing alcohol to minors. The fraternity was required to pay $9,300 in fines and perform 300 hours of community service. AD was not suspended during the investigation.
Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity also came under investigation in October 2012 for hazing and was sentenced to three terms of College probation in January. The College did not place Alpha Phi Alpha on suspension during the three-month probe of its activities, but the national organization did suspend the fraternity after learning about the hazing allegations.
In 2012, Sigma Alpha Epsilon admitted to specific acts of hazing new pledges in 2009 and was put on a three-term College probation. SAE was not suspended at any point during or after the investigation.
If found guilty of violating the school's hazing policy, Beta could face multiple terms of social probation, which means the house cannot host social events or events with alcohol, loss of new member recruitment privileges for a minimum of one year, or in the worst case scenario, suspension or derecognition, according to the GLOS handbook.
Beta was derecognized by the College in 1996 after repeated disciplinary infractions but reopened in 2008.
