Sigma Alpha Epsilon, the fraternity whose  icy ‘torture’ of pledges that evoked Tarantino films and allegedly led to the death of some students, announces a radical change in how its chapters will get new members.

A December investigation by Bloomberg found that there have been nine deaths at Sigma Alpha Epsilon events since 2006 — more than the deaths associated with any other fraternity. Bloomberg dubbed SAE the “deadliest fraternity.”

On Friday, SAE announced a dramatic effort to reform Greek life: The fraternity will completely eliminate pledging, so that people offered membership will become full members immediately upon accepting bids. Many fraternities — and many colleges and universities — have looked for ways to decouple pledging and hazing, but SAE is effectively giving up that effort. And some of its members are outraged, saying that the organization is devaluing fraternity membership by letting people join without going through the process they experienced.

The fraternity’s national Supreme Council ordered its 226 chapters to start abiding by the new rules on Sunday. While education programs about the fraternity’s values (called the True Gentleman Experience) will be permitted, that will be for all current members, who will have equal status. And educational development will take place over four years, not just when people join the fraternity. The fraternity said it will move to close chapters that don’t comply.

Many SAE members attacked the Bloomberg story when it appeared a few months ago, but the national fraternity on Friday acknowledged that it had both an image problem and a substantive problem. “The bad publicity Sigma Alpha Epsilon has received is challenging and regretful because we know that some of our groups have great new-member (pledge) programs and do the right thing,” said the announcement. “At the same time, we have experienced a number of incidents and deaths, events with consequences that have never been consistent with our membership experience. Furthermore, we have endured a painful number of chapter closings as a result of hazing. Research shows that hazing, which hides in the dark, causes members to lie.”

The statement added that “the attack on our image is not the sole motivating factor behind the changes. The Supreme Council believes the time is now to embrace change in the way our groups operate in order to ensure our future success. And now is the time to lead the way among Greek-letter organizations. As a result, we may very well turn bad publicity into a positive, proactive image.”

Some fraternities in the past have eliminated pledging. Sigma Phi Epsilon did so in the 1990s, creating a “Balanced Man Program” designed to promote growth among members throughout their time in college.