The Complete Guide to Hazing, the Law, and Your Rights for Lone Star, Texas Families
A Texas Parent’s Worst Nightmare: When “Tradition” Turns Dangerous
Imagine your child, a student from Lone Star attending a Texas university, is at an off-campus fraternity event. It’s supposed to be a “big brother reveal” night. Instead, they’re pressured to drink far beyond their limits—chugging from bottles passed around a circle of older members. Everyone is filming on their phones, laughing and chanting. Your child feels dizzy, disoriented, but is terrified to speak up, afraid of being labeled “not committed” or getting the chapter in trouble. Hours later, they’re found unresponsive. The members hesitate to call 911, worried about consequences. A tradition meant for bonding has become a medical emergency.
This scenario isn’t just hypothetical. It’s happening right now on Texas campuses, including at schools where Lone Star families send their children: the University of Houston, Texas A&M, UT Austin, SMU, Baylor, and other universities across our state. As parents in the Lone Star community, we send our children to college expecting growth and opportunity, not trauma and preventable danger.
This comprehensive guide is written specifically for families in Lone Star, Morris County, and throughout East Texas who need to understand the reality of modern hazing, Texas law, and the legal options available when institutions fail to protect students. We’ll explain what hazing really looks like in 2025, how Texas and federal laws apply, what we’ve learned from major national cases, and what’s happening at Texas universities right now. We are The Manginello Law Firm, and we represent hazing victims and their families throughout Texas, including here in Lone Star.
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 Lone Star Students
For Lone Star families unfamiliar with modern Greek life or campus traditions, hazing has evolved far beyond the stereotypes of paddling or silly pranks. Today’s hazing is often sophisticated, digitally organized, and carefully hidden from university oversight. Understanding what it actually looks like is the first step in recognizing if your child might be at risk.
A Clear, Modern Definition of Hazing
Hazing is 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. Crucially, “I agreed to it” does not automatically make it safe or legal when there is peer pressure and power imbalance. Texas law explicitly states that consent is not a defense to hazing.
Main Categories of Hazing in Modern Campus Culture
Alcohol and Substance Hazing
This remains the most common and most dangerous form of hazing. It includes forced or coerced drinking through “lineups” where new members stand in line taking shots, drinking games like “power hour” or “century club” that require rapid consumption, and being pressured to consume unknown or mixed substances. The recent University of Houston Pi Kappa Phi case documented in the November 2025 Click2Houston and ABC13 reports shows how dangerous this can be—pledges were forced to consume milk, hot dogs, and peppercorns until vomiting, then immediately forced to do sprints.
Physical Hazing
This includes paddling and beatings, extreme calisthenics or “workouts” far beyond normal conditioning (like the 100+ push-ups and 500 squats documented in the UH case), sleep deprivation, food/water deprivation, and exposure to extreme cold or heat. At Texas A&M, Corps of Cadets members have reported being bound in “roasted pig” positions, while Sigma Alpha Epsilon pledges suffered severe chemical burns requiring skin grafts.
Sexualized and Humiliating Hazing
Forced nudity or partial nudity, simulated sexual acts, degrading costumes, and acts with racial or sexist overtones are tragically common. These create not just physical but deep psychological trauma that can last a lifetime.
Psychological Hazing
Verbal abuse, threats, social isolation, manipulation, forced confessions, and public shaming—whether in meetings or on social media—can be just as damaging as physical abuse.
Digital/Online Hazing
Today’s hazing often happens in plain sight on digital platforms. Group chat dares, “challenges” shared on Instagram or TikTok, pressure to create or share compromising images/videos, and 24/7 digital monitoring via apps like GroupMe create a constant environment of pressure and control.
Where Hazing Actually Happens in Texas
Hazing is not limited to fraternity basements. It occurs across campus organizations:
- Fraternities and Sororities across all councils (IFC, Panhellenic, NPHC, multicultural)
- Corps of Cadets / ROTC / Military-Style Groups with tradition-heavy cultures
- Athletic Teams from football to cheerleading
- Spirit Squads and Tradition Clubs (like the Texas Cowboys or similar groups)
- Marching Bands and Performance Groups
- Some Service, Cultural, and Academic Organizations
The common threads are social status, tradition, and secrecy—factors that keep these practices alive even when everyone “knows” hazing is illegal. For Lone Star families with children at Texas universities, understanding this broad landscape is crucial for recognizing warning signs.
Texas Law & Federal Framework: What Lone Star Families Need to Know
Navigating the legal landscape after a hazing incident can feel overwhelming. Understanding the basic framework of Texas hazing law and relevant federal statutes helps families know their rights and what to expect.
Texas Hazing Law Basics (Education Code Chapter 37)
Texas has specific anti-hazing provisions in the Education Code that apply to all educational institutions in our state. The law defines hazing broadly as any intentional, knowing, or reckless act, on or off campus, directed against a student for purposes of initiation, affiliation, or membership that:
- Endangers the physical health or safety (e.g., beating, forced exercise, forced consumption)
- Or affects the mental health or safety (e.g., extreme humiliation, intimidation)
Key Provisions for Texas Families:
Criminal Penalties (Section 37.152):
- Class B Misdemeanor: Hazing that doesn’t cause serious injury (up to 180 days jail, fine up to $2,000)
- Class A Misdemeanor: Hazing causing injury requiring medical treatment
- State Jail Felony: Hazing causing serious bodily injury or death
Organizational Liability (Section 37.153):
Organizations (fraternities, sororities, clubs) can be criminally prosecuted if they authorized or encouraged hazing, or if officers knew and failed to report it. Penalties include fines up to $10,000 per violation and potential campus ban.
Consent is NOT a Defense (Section 37.155):
Texas law explicitly states it is not a defense that the person being hazed consented to the activity. This directly addresses the common “they agreed to it” argument.
Immunity for Good-Faith Reporting (Section 37.154):
Individuals who report hazing in good faith to university or law enforcement are immune from civil or criminal liability. Many Texas universities also have medical amnesty policies for those who call for help in emergencies.
Criminal vs Civil Cases: Understanding the Difference
Criminal Cases:
- Brought by: The state (prosecutor)
- Aim: Punishment (jail, fines, probation)
- Typical charges: Hazing offenses, furnishing alcohol to minors, assault, battery, manslaughter in fatal cases
- Example: The criminal charges against Pi Kappa Phi members in the University of Houston case
Civil Cases:
- Brought by: Victims or surviving families
- Aim: Monetary compensation and accountability
- Focus: Negligence, wrongful death, negligent supervision, premises liability, emotional distress
- Example: The $10 million lawsuit filed by Leonel Bermudez against UH and Pi Kappa Phi
Both types can proceed simultaneously, and a criminal conviction is not required to pursue a civil case. Many families pursue civil action to cover medical costs, secure ongoing care for injuries, and hold institutions accountable even when criminal charges aren’t filed.
Federal Law Overlay: Additional Protections
Stop Campus Hazing Act (2024):
This federal law requires colleges receiving federal aid to report hazing incidents more transparently, strengthen prevention programs, and maintain public hazing data (phased in by 2026). This will give Texas families better information about campus safety records.
Title IX & Clery Act:
When hazing involves sexual harassment, assault, or gender-based hostility, Title IX obligations are triggered. The Clery Act requires reporting certain crimes and maintaining safety statistics—many hazing incidents overlap with these categories.
Who Can Be Liable in a Civil Hazing Lawsuit?
Understanding potential defendants helps families recognize the full scope of accountability:
Individual Students: Those who planned, supplied alcohol, carried out acts, or helped cover them up
Local Chapter/Organization: The fraternity/sorority or club itself (if a legal entity), plus officers and “pledge educators”
National Fraternity/Sorority: Headquarters that set policies, receive dues, and supervise chapters—liable based on what they knew or should have known from prior incidents
University/Governing Board: Schools may be sued under negligence or civil rights theories, especially if they had prior warnings or showed deliberate indifference
Third Parties: Landlords of event spaces, bars/alcohol providers (under dram shop laws), security companies
Every case is fact-specific, but experienced hazing attorneys know how to identify all potentially liable parties to ensure adequate compensation and accountability.
National Hazing Case Patterns: What They Mean for Lone Star Families
Understanding major national cases provides crucial context for what’s happening in Texas. These cases show patterns that repeat across campuses and establish legal precedents that protect victims.
Alcohol Poisoning & Death Pattern
Timothy Piazza – Penn State, Beta Theta Pi (2017)
During a bid-acceptance event with heavy drinking, Piazza suffered severe falls captured on chapter cameras. Members delayed calling for help for hours. The case resulted in dozens of criminal charges, civil litigation, and Pennsylvania’s Timothy J. Piazza Anti-Hazing Law. Takeaway for Texas families: Extreme intoxication combined with delayed medical care and a culture of silence creates devastating legal consequences.
**Max Gruver – LSU
