A Texas Parent’s Guide to Hazing: Understanding Rights, Risks, and Accountability for Families in Eureka and Navarro County

If you are a parent in the close-knit community of Eureka, in Navarro County, your child’s college experience is likely a source of immense pride and concern. Perhaps your student attends a local institution like Navarro College, or maybe they’ve ventured farther to a major state university like Texas A&M, the University of Texas at Austin, or the University of Houston. You’ve entrusted these institutions with their safety, believing in campus traditions and the promise of lifelong friendships from joining a campus organization.

Now imagine a late-night phone call. Your child’s voice is strained, hesitant. They talk about mandatory “study sessions” that last until dawn, about being yelled at and humiliated, about being forced to do things that make them deeply uncomfortable to “prove their loyalty.” They’re exhausted, injured, and afraid—but they’re also terrified of quitting, of letting their new “brothers” or “sisters” down, and of the social consequences. This is not a dramatic fiction; it is the devastating reality of modern hazing, and it is happening right now on Texas campuses.

For families in Eureka, Corsicana, and across Navarro County, the distance to a major university does not insulate you from this crisis. When a child is harmed hours from home, parents feel powerless. This guide exists to change that. We will explain what hazing truly looks like in 2025, the Texas laws designed to protect your child, the sobering national cases that reveal predictable patterns, and what has been happening at the very universities where Navarro County families send their students. Our goal is to provide you with the knowledge and resources needed to protect your child and seek accountability, because no family should face this nightmare alone.

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) for immediate legal guidance.
• In the first 48 hours:
  • Get medical attention immediately, even for seemingly minor injuries.
  • Preserve evidence: Screenshot all group chats, text messages, and social media posts. Photograph any injuries from multiple angles.
  • Write down everything your child tells you while their memory is fresh.
  • Do NOT confront the organization, sign anything from the university, or let your child delete any digital evidence.
• Contact an experienced hazing attorney. Evidence disappears within days. Call us at 1-888-ATTY-911 for a free, confidential consultation to protect your child’s rights.

Hazing in 2025: What It Really Looks Like in Texas

Hazing is no longer the cartoonish image of silly pranks or simple initiations. It is a calculated pattern of coercion, humiliation, and abuse designed to assert power and enforce loyalty. For Texas parents, understanding its modern forms is the first step in recognizing danger.

Hazing is defined by Texas law as any intentional, knowing, or reckless act that endangers the mental or physical health of a student for the purpose of initiation into, affiliation with, or maintaining membership in an organization. Crucially, a student’s “consent” is not a legal defense. The power imbalance, fear of exclusion, and intense desire to belong create an environment where true voluntary consent is impossible.

The tactics have evolved, often disguised as “team building” or “tradition.” They generally fall into escalating categories:

1. Subtle Hazing: Behaviors that emphasize a power imbalance and set the stage for worse abuse. This includes forced servitude (being an on-call driver, cleaning members’ rooms), social isolation from non-members, being assigned derogatory nicknames, and mandatory attendance at events that disrupt sleep and academics. Digitally, it manifests as 24/7 monitoring via group chats like GroupMe, where pledges must respond instantly at all hours.

2. Harassment Hazing: Acts that cause emotional or physical distress. This involves verbal abuse and screaming, sleep deprivation through all-night “meetings,” forced consumption of unpalatable food or substances (like excessive milk or hot sauce), and strenuous, punitive calisthenics called “smokings.” Public humiliation, such as being forced to wear degrading costumes in public, is common.

3. Violent Hazing: Activities with a high potential for catastrophic injury or death. This is the most dangerous category and includes:
* Forced Alcohol Consumption: “Big/Little” nights, “family tree” drinking games, lineups, and coerced chugging leading to alcohol poisoning.
* Physical Assault: Paddling, beatings, “glass ceiling” tackling rituals, and dangerous physical tests.
* Sexualized Hazing: Forced nudity, simulated sexual acts, and sexual assault.
* Environmental Dangers: Exposure to extreme cold, being tied up, or dangerous driving while fatigued.

Hazing is not exclusive to fraternities. It permeates sororities, athletic teams, Corps of Cadets programs, spirit groups like cheerleading, marching bands, and other campus clubs. The common thread is the abuse of power in the name of tradition and belonging.

Law & Liability Framework: Texas Statutes and Your Family’s Rights

For families in Eureka, navigating a hazing crisis means understanding the legal landscape. Texas has specific laws, and federal statutes provide additional layers of protection and potential liability.

Texas Education Code, Chapter 37: The Anti-Hazing Statute

Texas law provides a clear framework for holding individuals and organizations accountable:

• Definition (§37.151): Hazing is any intentional, knowing, or reckless act, on or off campus, that endangers a student’s physical or mental health for the purpose of joining or maintaining membership in a group.
• Criminal Penalties (§37.152): Hazing is a Class B misdemeanor. It becomes a Class A misdemeanor if it causes bodily injury and a state jail felony if it causes serious bodily injury or death. Failing to report hazing or retaliating against a reporter are also crimes.
• Organizational Liability (§37.153): The organization itself (fraternity, sorority, team) can be prosecuted and fined up to $10,000 if it authorized the hazing or if an officer knew and failed to report it.
• Consent is NOT a Defense (§37.155): The law explicitly states that the victim’s “consent” to the activity is irrelevant.
• Reporter Immunity (§37.154): Individuals who report hazing in good faith are immune from civil or criminal liability for their own minor involvement, encouraging calls for help.

Civil Lawsuits: Seeking Accountability and Compensation

A criminal case, brought by the state, seeks punishment. A civil lawsuit, which your family can file, seeks compensation for damages and holds all responsible parties accountable. These are not mutually exclusive; both can proceed simultaneously.

In a civil hazing case, liability can extend to a “universe of defendants”:

• The individuals who planned, participated in, or covered up the hazing.
• The local chapter as an entity.
• The national fraternity or sorority headquarters that may have ignored prior warnings or failed to enforce its own policies.
• The university for negligent supervision, if it knew or should have known about a dangerous pattern.
• The chapter’s housing corporation and alumni advisors.
• Property owners of off-campus houses where hazing occurred.

Federal Overlays: Title IX, Clery, and the Stop Campus Hazing Act

• Title IX: If hazing involves sexual harassment or assault, it triggers the university’s Title IX obligations to investigate and provide a safe environment.
• Clery Act: Requires universities to report and disclose certain crimes, including aggravated assault and liquor law violations, which often accompany hazing.
• Stop Campus Hazing Act (2024): This new federal law requires colleges to publicly report hazing incidents and strengthen prevention programs, increasing transparency for families.

A Case in Point: The $10 Million University of Houston Pi Kappa Phi Lawsuit

Right now, our firm is actively litigating one of the most severe hazing cases in Texas, demonstrating exactly how these legal principles apply. We represent Leonel Bermudez, a University of Houston student who pledged the Pi Kappa Phi Beta Nu chapter in fall 2025.

The alleged hazing was systematic and brutal. Pledges were forced to carry a “pledge fanny pack” 24/7 filled with condoms, sex toys, and other humiliating items. They endured enforced dress codes, overnight driving duties, and hours-long interrogations. The physical abuse included bear crawls, sprints, and being sprayed in the face with a hose “similar to waterboarding.”

The climax occurred on November 3, 2025. Bermudez was forced to perform over 100 push-ups and 500 squats under threat of expulsion. Days later, he collapsed, passing brown urine—a classic sign of a medical emergency. He was hospitalized for four days and diagnosed with rhabdomyolysis (severe muscle breakdown) and acute kidney failure, facing a risk of permanent kidney damage. As reported by Click2Houston and ABC13, the fraternity chapter was swiftly suspended and then voted to surrender its charter.

Our lawsuit names 13 individual fraternity leaders, the Pi Kappa Phi national headquarters, its housing corporation, the University of Houston, and the UH System Board of Regents. This case is a stark example for all Texas families: the injuries are catastrophic, the institutional response is often too late, and the path to accountability requires experienced, determined legal counsel.

The Texas Greek Ecosystem: What Navarro County Parents Need to Know

When your child joins a fraternity or sorority at a major Texas school, they are not just joining a campus club. They are connecting to a vast, networked ecosystem of legally registered organizations with national ties, insurance policies, and complex hierarchies. Understanding this landscape is crucial for accountability.

Using our proprietary Texas Hazing Intelligence Engine—built from public IRS records, university data, and national databases—we maintain one of the most comprehensive directories of Greek-life entities in the state. This allows us to immediately identify every potentially liable organization behind a local chapter.

For families in Eureka and Navarro County, this means we already have vital data on the organizations connected to the campuses where your children are most likely to be.

Universities Relevant to Navarro County Families

Students from our community attend a wide range of institutions, from local colleges to major state flagships:

• Local/Regional Campuses: Navarro College (Corsicana), Texas A&M University-Commerce, Tarleton State University, and the University of Texas at Tyler are all within reach for commuting or regional enrollment.
• Major Statewide Hubs: It is common for Navarro County high school graduates to attend Texas A&M University in College Station, the University of Texas at Austin, the University of Houston, Baylor University in Waco, Texas Tech University, or Southern Methodist University (SMU) in Dallas.

Public Records Insight: A Snapshot of the Texas Greek Network

The following are real examples of Texas-registered Greek organizations, illustrating the depth of the system your child encounters. These are not accusations but factual listings from public records that form the backbone of our investigative strategy.

Examples from the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington Metro Area (which influences our region):

• Beta Upsilon Chi Fraternity, EIN 74-2911848, Fort Worth, TX 76244.
• Texas Kappa Sigma Educational Foundation Inc, EIN 74-1380362, Fort Worth, TX 76147.
• Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity – Frisco Alumni Chapter, EIN 92-0575785, Frisco, TX 75034.

Examples of University-Linked Organizations:

• Kappa Sigma – Mu Camma Chapter Inc, EIN 13-3048786, College Station, TX 77845 (Texas A&M).
• Building Corporation of Delta Chapter of Alpha Delta Pi, EIN 74-6047117, Austin, TX 78705 (UT Austin).
• Beta Nu Pi Kappa Phi Fraternity Housing Corporation Inc, EIN 46-2267515, Frisco, TX 75035 (Connected to the UH chapter in our lawsuit).

Statewide Snapshot: Our engine tracks over 1,400 Greek-related organizations across 25 Texas metro areas. This network includes undergraduate chapters, alumni associations, housing corporations, and educational foundations—all of which can be sources of liability and insurance coverage in a hazing case.

National Patterns of Tragedy: Why History Matters for Texas Families

The hazing that injured Leonel Bermudez at UH is not an isolated anomaly. It follows a tragically predictable national script. When we take a case for a family in Eureka, we bring with us the hard lessons learned from these national tragedies, using them to prove patterns of negligence.

• Stone Foltz, Bowling Green State University (2021): A Pi Kappa Alpha pledge died after being forced to drink an entire bottle of alcohol. His family secured a $10 million settlement from the national fraternity and university.
• Timothy Piazza, Penn State University (2017): A Beta Theta Pi pledge died from traumatic brain injuries after a night of forced drinking. The incident, captured on chapter house cameras, led to the Timothy J. Piazza Anti-Hazing Law in Pennsylvania.
• Max Gruver, LSU (2017): A Phi Delta Theta pledge died from alcohol poisoning after a “Bible study” drinking game. His case spurred Louisiana’s Max Gruver Act, creating felony hazing charges.
• Danny Santulli, University of Missouri (2021): A Phi Gamma Delta (Fiji) pledge suffered permanent, catastrophic brain damage from forced drinking. His family reached multi-million-dollar settlements with 22 defendants.

These cases reveal common, damning threads: forced consumption, delayed medical care, institutional knowledge of risks, and cover-up attempts. They prove that national fraternity headquarters are often on notice about lethal traditions within their chapters. When the same patterns emerge in Texas, it forms the basis for claims of gross negligence and punitive damages.

Hazing at Major Texas Universities: What Eureka Families Are Up Against

The culture and response to hazing vary by campus. Here is what parents need to know about the universities Navarro County students often attend.

Texas A&M University & The Corps of Cadets

Texas A&M’s unique Corps of Cadets culture and powerful Greek life present specific risks. The university has faced serious lawsuits, including one where a cadet alleged being bound in a “roasted pig” position as part of hazing. In the Greek system, a Sigma Alpha Epsilon (SAE) chapter was sued after pledges suffered severe chemical burns from being doused with industrial cleaner. For Aggie families, understanding the intersection of Corps tradition and fraternity culture is critical.

University of Texas at Austin

UT Austin maintains a public online log of hazing violations, offering more transparency than most. Recent entries show sanctions against groups like Pi Kappa Alpha for forcing new members to consume milk and perform extreme calisthenics. This public record is a powerful tool, as it demonstrates the university’s prior knowledge of dangerous patterns within specific organizations—knowledge that can establish liability if more severe hazing occurs.

Southern Methodist University (SMU)

As a private university with a prominent Greek system, SMU has faced its own scandals. The Kappa Alpha Order chapter was suspended for several years following hazing allegations involving paddling and forced drinking. Private universities often handle complaints internally, making skilled legal advocacy essential to uncover the full truth.

Baylor University

Following high-profile scandals, Baylor has emphasized reform. Yet hazing persists, as seen in 2020 when 14 baseball players were suspended following a hazing investigation. For families, Baylor’s religious mission can sometimes create a false sense of security; vigilance remains necessary.

For a student from Eureka, the common factor across all these campuses is the relentless pressure to belong and the hidden dangers that pressure can conceal.

How Attorney911 Builds a Hazing Case for Texas Families

If hazing has injured your child, taking swift, strategic action is paramount. Our approach is built on a foundation of investigation, evidence, and deep knowledge of how institutions defend themselves.

1. Immediate Evidence Preservation: The digital footprint is everything. We guide families to secure screenshots of GroupMe, WhatsApp, and text message chains; preserve social media posts and videos; and photograph injuries. We employ digital forensics experts to recover deleted messages when necessary. As we explain in our educational video on evidence preservation, this first step is irreplaceable.

2. Identifying All Liable Parties: Using our Texas Hazing Intelligence Engine, we immediately map the organizational landscape behind the chapter. We look beyond the individual members to the national headquarters, the housing corporation, alumni boards, and the university itself. Each is a potential source of accountability and insurance coverage.

3. Overcoming Institutional Defenses: We anticipate and dismantle the standard defenses:
* “The Victim Consented”: We cite Texas law §37.155 and use evidence of coercion and power imbalance.
* “It Was a Rogue Chapter”: We subpoena national fraternity records to show prior incident reports and a history of similar hazing across the country, proving foreseeability.
* “It Happened Off-Campus”: We establish that the university and national organization still exercised control and benefited from the chapter’s activities.
* “Insurance Doesn’t Cover This”: With Mr. Lupe Peña’s background as a former insurance defense attorney, we navigate coverage exclusions and fight for every available policy.

4. Calculating Full Damages: We work with medical experts, life-care planners, and economists to document the complete harm:
* Economic Damages: All medical bills (ER, hospitalization, surgery, therapy), lost future earnings, and educational costs.
* Non-Economic Damages: Compensation for pain and suffering, PTSD, anxiety, humiliation, and loss of enjoyment of life.
* Wrongful Death Damages: In the worst cases, we seek accountability for funeral costs, loss of companionship, and a family’s profound grief.

Practical Guide for Navarro County Parents & Students

For Parents: Warning Signs and Steps to Take

Warning Signs: Unexplained injuries or illnesses; extreme fatigue; drastic personality changes (withdrawal, anxiety); secrecy about organization activities; sudden financial needs; constant, anxious phone use related to group chats.
What to Do:

1. Listen Without Judgment: Create a safe space for your child to talk.
2. Seek Medical Care: Even if injuries seem minor, get a professional evaluation and mention hazing for the record.
3. Document Everything: Write down what you’re told. Save all communications.
4. Consult an Attorney Early: Before reporting or speaking to the university, protect your family’s rights. The statute of limitations in Texas is generally two years, but evidence vanishes in days.
5. Avoid Critical Mistakes: Do not confront the fraternity, sign university settlement offers, or let your child delete evidence. We detail these pitfalls in our video on client mistakes that can ruin a case.

For Students: Your Rights and Safety

• You Have the Right to Be Safe. No tradition is worth your health, education, or life.
• “Consent” is Not a Defense in Texas. You cannot legally agree to be hazed.
• Exit Safely: If you need to leave, tell a trusted person outside the group first for support. You can resign via email; you do not owe an in-person explanation.
• Report Anonymously: You can contact the National Anti-Hazing Hotline at 1-888-NOT-HAZE or use your university’s anonymous reporting system.
• Call 911 in Emergencies: Texas law provides protections for those who call for help in good faith.

Why Attorney911 Is the Right Firm for Navarro County Hazing Cases

When your family is in crisis, you need advocates who combine genuine compassion with unmatched tactical strength. As the Legal Emergency Lawyers™, we are built for complex institutional fights. For families in Eureka, Corsicana, and across Texas, here is why our experience matters:

1. We Are Litigating the Flagship Texas Hazing Case Right Now. We are lead counsel for Leonel Bermudez in the $10 million lawsuit against UH and Pi Kappa Phi. We are not theorizing about hazing law; we are actively fighting one of the most severe cases in the state, setting precedents that protect all Texas students.

2. Insider Knowledge of How Institutions Fight. Our associate attorney, Mr. Lupe Peña (he/him), spent years as an insurance defense attorney for national firms. He knows exactly how fraternity and university insurance companies will try to deny, delay, and minimize your claim. We know their playbook because we used to help write it.

3. Proven Experience Against Billion-Dollar Defendants. Managing partner Ralph Manginello was one of the few plaintiff attorneys involved in the BP Texas City explosion litigation. We have no fear of taking on wealthy, powerful institutions like national fraternities and major universities. We have the resources, expert network, and federal court experience to match them.

4. A Data-Driven Investigative Advantage. Our Texas Hazing Intelligence Engine, with over 1,400 tracked organizations, means we never start an investigation from zero. We can immediately identify the web of liable entities, saving crucial time and uncovering hidden accountability.

5. Contingency Fee Basis. We handle these complex cases on a contingency fee basis, meaning you pay no upfront costs. Our fee comes only if we successfully recover compensation for you, aligning our interests completely with yours.

Your Next Step: A Free, Confidential Consultation

If you are a parent in Eureka, Kerens, Corsicana, or anywhere in Navarro County and suspect your child has been hazed, you do not have to navigate this alone. The university’s priority is often limiting liability; the fraternity’s priority is protecting its reputation. Your priority is your child’s health, safety, and future.

Contact The Manginello Law Firm, PLLC (Attorney911) today for a free, confidential case evaluation. We will listen to your story, explain your legal options in clear terms, and help you make an informed decision about the path forward.

Call us 24/7 at 1-888-ATTY-911 (1-888-288-9911). You can also reach out directly:

• Ralph Manginello: ralph@atty911.com
• Mr. Lupe Peña: lupe@atty911.com | Se habla Español.

Visit our website at https://attorney911.com to learn more about our practice. For an explanation of how our contingency fee structure works, watch our brief video guide.

Let us help you turn this crisis into a pursuit of justice, accountability, and the prevention of future harm. Enough is enough.

Legal Disclaimer

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Reading this does not create an attorney-client relationship. Every case is unique, and outcomes depend on specific facts and applicable law. We encourage you to seek counsel from a qualified attorney for advice on your particular situation. The information presented is current as of late 2025.

The Manginello Law Firm, PLLC / Attorney911
Houston, Austin, and Beaumont, Texas
Call: 1-888-ATTY-911 (1-888-288-9911)
Website: https://attorney911.com