The Complete Guide to Hazing in Texas: Rights, Resources, and Recovery for Town of Westlake Families

For parents in Town of Westlake, the call often comes late at night. Your student at the University of Houston, Texas A&M, UT Austin, SMU, or Baylor sounds different—exhausted, evasive, or emotionally withdrawn. They mention “mandatory” events, unexplained injuries, or a sudden obsession with pleasing older fraternity or sorority members. When you ask direct questions, you’re met with deflection: “It’s just tradition,” “Everyone does it,” or “I can’t talk about it.” What you’re witnessing may be the warning signs of hazing, a dangerous practice that has hospitalized and killed Texas students. Right now, we are actively litigating one of the most serious hazing cases in Texas history—the Leonel Bermudez $10 million lawsuit against the University of Houston and Pi Kappa Phi fraternity—where a pledge developed rhabdomyolysis and acute kidney failure after extreme physical abuse. If your family is facing this nightmare, you need immediate answers, not vague assurances.

IMMEDIATE HELP FOR HAZING EMERGENCIES

If your child is in danger RIGHT NOW:

• Call 911 for medical emergencies
• Then call Attorney911: 1-888-ATTY-911 (1-888-288-9911)
• We provide immediate help – that’s why we’re the Legal Emergency Lawyers™

In the first 48 hours:

• Get medical attention immediately, even if the student insists they are “fine”
• Preserve evidence BEFORE it’s deleted:
  • Screenshot group chats, texts, DMs immediately
  • Photograph injuries from multiple angles
  • Save physical items (clothing, receipts, objects)
• Write down everything while memory is fresh (who, what, when, where)
• Do NOT:
  • Confront the fraternity/sorority
  • Sign anything from the university or insurance company
  • Post details on public social media
  • Let your child delete messages or “clean up” evidence

Contact an experienced hazing attorney within 24–48 hours:

• Evidence disappears fast (deleted group chats, destroyed paddles, coached witnesses)
• Universities move quickly to control the narrative
• We can help preserve evidence and protect your child’s rights
• Call 1-888-ATTY-911 for immediate consultation

Hazing in 2025: What It Really Looks Like for Town of Westlake Students

For Town of Westlake families sending children to Texas universities, understanding modern hazing is critical. It’s not just “boys being boys” or harmless tradition—it’s systematic abuse that adapts to avoid detection. Hazing in 2025 means any forced, coerced, or strongly pressured action tied to joining, keeping membership, or gaining status in a group, where the behavior endangers physical or mental health, humiliates, or exploits. The key fact Town of Westlake parents must understand: “I agreed to it” does not automatically make it safe or legal when there is peer pressure and power imbalance.

Main Categories of Hazing Affecting Texas Students

Alcohol and Substance Hazing
The most common—and most deadly—form affecting students from Town of Westlake. This includes forced or coerced drinking during “Big/Little” nights, “family tree” drinking games, or lineups where pledges must consume dangerous amounts. In the Leonel Bermudez UH case, pledges were forced to consume milk, hot dogs, and peppercorns until vomiting, then immediately forced to run sprints.

Physical Hazing
This goes beyond “conditioning” to include paddling, beatings, extreme calisthenics (“smokings” with hundreds of push-ups), sleep deprivation, and exposure to extreme elements. At UH, Bermudez was forced through 100+ push-ups and 500 squats in a single session, leading to rhabdomyolysis. Another pledge was hog-tied face-down on a table with an object in his mouth for over an hour.

Sexualized and Humiliating Hazing
Forced nudity, simulated sexual acts (“roasted pig” positions in Corps cases), degrading costumes, and acts with racial or sexist overtones. The “pledge fanny pack” rule in the UH case required carrying condoms, sex toys, and humiliating items 24/7.

Psychological Hazing
Verbal abuse, threats, isolation, manipulation, and public shaming. This includes “grilling” sessions where members verbally tear down pledges and social media humiliation.

Digital/Online Hazing
Group chat dares, “challenges,” and public humiliation via Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, Discord. Members may require pledges to share live location tracking, respond instantly to messages at all hours, or post compromising content.

Where Hazing Actually Happens in Texas

Town of Westlake families should understand hazing extends beyond stereotypical “frat parties”:

• Fraternities and Sororities (IFC, Panhellenic, NPHC, multicultural organizations)
• Corps of Cadets / ROTC / Military-Style Groups (particularly at Texas A&M)
• Spirit Squads and Tradition Clubs (Texas Cowboys, cheer teams, dance teams)
• Athletic Teams (from football to swimming)
• Marching Bands and Performance Groups
• Some Service, Cultural, and Academic Organizations

The common threads across all groups: social status, tradition, and secrecy keep these practices alive even when everyone “knows” hazing is illegal.

Texas Hazing Law: What Town of Westlake Families Need to Know

Under Texas law—which governs cases involving Town of Westlake students—hazing is specifically addressed in the Education Code, Chapter 37, Subchapter F. This framework provides both criminal penalties and civil liability pathways for families seeking accountability.

Texas Education Code Hazing Provisions

§ 37.151 Definition
Hazing means any intentional, knowing, or reckless act, on or off campus, by one person alone or with others, directed against a student, that endangers the mental or physical health or safety of a student AND occurs for the purpose of pledging, initiation into, affiliation with, holding office in, or maintaining membership in any organization whose members include students.

Key points for Town of Westlake families:

• Can happen on or off campus (location doesn’t matter)
• Can be mental or physical harm
• Intent: Doesn’t have to be malicious; “reckless” is enough (knew the risk and did it anyway)
• “Consent is not a defense” (Texas Education Code § 37.155): Even if the victim agreed, it’s still hazing if it meets the definition

§ 37.152 Criminal Penalties

• Class B Misdemeanor: Hazing that doesn’t cause serious injury (up to 180 days jail, fine up to $2,000)
• Class A Misdemeanor: If hazing causes injury that requires medical treatment
• State Jail Felony: If hazing causes serious bodily injury or death

Additional offenses:

• Failing to report hazing (if you’re a member or officer and you knew about it): misdemeanor
• Retaliating against someone who reports hazing: misdemeanor

§ 37.153 Organizational Liability
Organizations (fraternities, sororities, clubs, teams) can be criminally prosecuted for hazing if the org authorized or encouraged the hazing OR an officer or member acting in official capacity knew about hazing and failed to report it. Penalties include fines up to $10,000 per violation and university revocation of recognition.

§ 37.154 Immunity for Good-Faith Reporting
A person who in good faith reports a hazing incident to university or law enforcement is immune from civil or criminal liability that might otherwise result from the report. In medical emergencies, Texas law and many university policies provide amnesty for students who call 911, even if they were drinking underage or involved in the hazing themselves.

Criminal vs Civil Cases: Understanding the Difference

Criminal Cases

• Brought by the state (prosecutor)
• Aim: punishment (jail, fines, probation)
• Typical hazing-related charges: hazing offenses, furnishing alcohol to minors, assault, battery, or manslaughter in fatal cases
• Example: In the UH Pi Kappa Phi case, criminal referrals were made to law enforcement

Civil Cases

• Brought by victims or surviving families
• Aim: monetary compensation and accountability
• Focus on: negligence, gross negligence, wrongful death, negligent hiring/supervision, premises liability, emotional distress
• Example: The