The Ultimate Guide to Hazing Litigation for Parents in Woodsboro, Refugio County & Coastal Bend Texas

When your child leaves for college from our close-knit communities in Woodsboro, Refugio, Sinton, or anywhere across the Coastal Bend, you entrust their safety to the university. You imagine lecture halls, football games, and new friendships. You don’t imagine receiving a phone call that your child is in the hospital with kidney failure after being forced to eat until they vomited or being sprayed in the face with a hose “like waterboarding” by fraternity brothers.

This nightmare became reality for one Texas family in late 2025, and their case proves that the most severe hazing is happening right now, at universities where Texas families send their children. If you’re a parent in Woodsboro, Refugio County, or anywhere in South Texas, this comprehensive guide explains what modern hazing truly looks like, your legal rights under Texas law, and how to protect your child when institutions fail them.

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 your child insists they’re “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

If hazing has impacted your family in Woodsboro or anywhere in Texas, call us immediately at 1-888-ATTY-911. Evidence disappears within days, and universities move quickly to control the narrative. We can help you preserve evidence and protect your child’s rights from the first phone call.

The Leonel Bermudez Case: Proof That Texas’ Worst Hazing Is Happening Now

Right now, as you read this, our firm is actively litigating one of the most severe hazing cases in Texas history—a case that shows exactly what Texas families are up against when their children join Greek life.

In November 2025, we filed a $10 million hazing and abuse lawsuit on behalf of Leonel Bermudez against the University of Houston, the Pi Kappa Phi national fraternity headquarters, the Pi Kappa Phi Beta Nu housing corporation, the UH System Board of Regents, and 13 individual fraternity leaders. The details, as reported in Click2Houston and ABC13, are not just violations of policy—they are acts of calculated cruelty that nearly killed a young man.

What Actually Happened at UH’s Pi Kappa Phi Chapter

Leonel Bermudez, a transfer student, accepted a bid to join Pi Kappa Phi’s Beta Nu chapter in September 2025. What followed was a systematic campaign of abuse that escalated over weeks:

The “Pledge Fanny Pack” Humiliation:
Pledges were forced to carry a “pledge fanny pack” 24/7 containing condoms, a sex toy, nicotine devices, and other humiliating items. Failure to have it meant punishment or expulsion threats.

Forced Servitude and Control:
Enforced dress codes, hours-long “study/work” blocks, weekly interviews, and overnight chauffeuring duties that deprived pledges of sleep and academic time.

Physical Torture Disguised as “Workouts”:

• Sprints, bear crawls, wheelbarrow races, and “save-your-brother” drills
• Cold-weather exposure in underwear
• Lying in vomit-soaked grass
• Being sprayed in the face with a hose “similar to waterboarding” with threats of actual waterboarding
• Forced consumption of milk, hot dogs, and peppercorns until vomiting, followed by immediate sprints
• The November 3 “workout”: 100+ push-ups, 500 squats, and creed recitation under threat of expulsion

Other Pledges Were Brutalized Too:
On October 13, another pledge was hog-tied face-down on a table with an object in his mouth for over an hour while members prepared for a meeting.

The Medical Catastrophe That Resulted

After the November 3 workout, Bermudez’s condition deteriorated for days. He reached a point where he could not stand without help and was crawling upstairs at home. His mother noticed his urine was brown—a classic sign of rhabdomyolysis, a life-threatening condition where muscle tissue breaks down and floods the bloodstream.

He was rushed to the hospital on November 6 and hospitalized for four days with:

• Acute kidney failure requiring immediate treatment
• Rhabdomyolysis confirmed by critically high creatine kinase levels (over 50,000 U/L—normal is about 200)
• Ongoing risk of permanent kidney damage and long-term physical harm

The Institutional Response: Too Little, Too Late

Only after Bermudez was hospitalized did institutions take action:

• November 6, 2025: Pi Kappa Phi national headquarters suspended the Beta Nu chapter
• November 14, 2025: Chapter members voted to surrender their charter; the chapter was officially shut down
• UH’s statement: Called the conduct “deeply disturbing,” promised disciplinary measures up to expulsion, and claimed cooperation with law enforcement

But for parents in Woodsboro and across Texas, the critical question is: Why did it take a young man nearly dying to trigger this response? And more importantly: Is this happening at other Texas universities where our children are enrolled?

The Greek Ecosystem Surrounding Woodsboro & Coastal Bend Families

As parents in Woodsboro, Refugio County, and the Coastal Bend region, you might wonder: “How many of these organizations exist near us, and how are they structured?” The reality is that Greek life in Texas is a complex network of legally registered entities—and we maintain comprehensive data on every one of them.

Public Records: Fraternities, Sororities & Greek Organizations Serving Coastal Bend Families

We maintain what we call our Texas Hazing Intelligence Engine—a proprietary database built from IRS public filings, university records, and organizational data. This isn’t theoretical research; it’s concrete information about the entities that may hold liability and insurance coverage when hazing occurs.

Here’s what the public records show for organizations in and around the Coastal Bend region that serves Woodsboro families:

Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi-Related Entities:

• Sigma Chi Fraternity – Zeta Pi Chapter (EIN: Not Public), Texas A&M–Kingsville chapter
• Alpha Sigma Phi – Iota Phi Chapter (EIN: 831418972), Texas A&M–Corpus Christi chapter, Corpus Christi, TX 78412
• Kappa Sigma Fraternity – Rho-Psi Colony (Chapter reference), Texas A&M–CC colony/chapter, Corpus Christi, TX
• Phi Kappa Phi – TAMU Corpus Christi Chapter (Honor society at TAMU–CC), Corpus Christi, TX
• Delta Zeta Sorority – Corpus Christi Alumnae (Alumnae chapter), Corpus Christi, TX
• Delta Sigma Theta Sorority – Corpus Christi Alumnae (Grad chapter, founded 1952), Corpus Christi, TX

Texas A&M University-Kingsville Entities:

• Phi Kappa Phi – Texas A&M Kingsville Chapter (EIN: Reference to honor society at TAMUK), Kingsville, TX
• Delta Chi Fraternity – Kingsville Chapter (Texas A&M–Kingsville chapter), Kingsville, TX
• Gamma Phi Beta – Zeta Lambda Chapter (Texas A&M–Kingsville chapter), Kingsville, TX
• Sigma Chi Fraternity – Zeta Pi (TAMUK) (Texas A&M–Kingsville chapter), Kingsville, TX
• Alpha Gamma Delta – Kappa Gamma Chapter (Texas A&M–Kingsville chapter), Kingsville, TX

Statewide Organizations with Coastal Bend Presence:

• Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority (EIN: 364091267), Waco, TX 76710 – Beta Sigma Chapter in Houston, Mu Epsilon Chapter in Beaumont
• Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi (Multiple EINs), Chapters at Texas A&M–Kingsville, TAMU–CC, Lamar University
• Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity (EIN: 746064445), Nederland, TX 77627 – Texas District alumni/house corporation serving multiple chapters

Why This Directory Matters for Woodsboro Families:
When hazing occurs, the immediate response from national fraternities is often: “This was a rogue chapter acting against our policies.” But IRS B83 filings don’t lie. These organizations are legally registered entities with Employer Identification Numbers (EINs), official addresses,