The Ultimate Guide to Hazing & Fraternity Abuse Lawsuits in Texas: Protecting Rye Families

If you are a parent in the heart of Robertson County, the fear is visceral. Your child left for college with dreams of friendship and tradition. Now, your phone rings late at night. Their voice is strained, they’re evasive about bruises or exhaustion, and you hear unfamiliar voices in the background chanting. They say it’s “just pledging,” but your gut screams that something is dangerously wrong. You’re right to be concerned.

Right now, in our own state, we are leading one of the most serious hazing cases in Texas history. We represent Leonel Bermudez in a $10 million hazing and abuse lawsuit against the University of Houston, the Pi Kappa Phi national fraternity, its Beta Nu chapter housing corporation, and 13 individual fraternity leaders. The lawsuit details a fall 2025 pledge period of forced labor, humiliation, and violence at locations including the UH Pi Kappa Phi house, a Culmore Drive residence, and Yellowstone Boulevard Park in Houston. The allegations are specific and severe: a degrading “pledge fanny pack” rule, enforced sleep deprivation, brutal physical workouts, being sprayed in the face with a hose “similar to waterboarding,” and forced consumption of milk, hot dogs, and peppercorns until vomiting. This abuse culminated in Mr. Bermudez developing rhabdomyolysis—severe skeletal muscle breakdown—and acute kidney failure. He passed brown urine, was hospitalized for four days, and faces an ongoing risk of permanent kidney damage.

This isn’t an isolated news story from somewhere else. This is happening here, at a major Texas public university, and we are fighting it. If your child at Texas A&M, UT Austin, Baylor, or any Texas campus tells you a story that echoes even a fraction of this, you are not overreacting. You are a parent recognizing a pattern of institutional failure that has injured and killed students for decades. This guide is for you—the families in Rye, Bremond, Calvert, Hearne, and across Robertson County—to understand what hazing really is in 2025, know your legal rights, and see the path to accountability.

If This Just Happened: Immediate Steps for Rye Families

Stop reading and take these steps if your child is in crisis:

1. Medical Emergency: If injured or intoxicated, call 911 or go to the nearest ER immediately. Priority one is health and safety.
2. Preserve Evidence: BEFORE anything is deleted:
   • Screenshot all group chats (GroupMe, WhatsApp, Instagram DMs, texts).
   • Photograph any visible injuries from multiple angles.
   • Save any physical objects (paddles, specific clothing, bottles).
   • Write down everything your child tells you with dates, times, and names.
3. Secure Legal Guidance: Call us at 1-888-ATTY-911. Evidence disappears within hours. Universities and fraternities move quickly to control the narrative. We can help you preserve evidence and protect your child’s rights from the start.
4. Do NOT:
   • Confront the fraternity, sorority, or team directly.
   • Let your child delete messages or “clean up” their phone.
   • Sign anything from the university or an insurance adjuster.
   • Post details on public social media.

Hazing in 2025: What It Really Looks Like for Texas Students

Hazing is not just “boys being boys” or harmless tradition. Under Texas law (Education Code Chapter 37), it is any intentional, knowing, or reckless act that endangers the mental or physical health of a student for the purpose of initiation or affiliation. For Rye families sending kids to large campuses, hazing has evolved beyond simple pranks. It is a calculated, often digitally-coordinated system of abuse designed to create loyalty through trauma.

Modern hazing tactics include:

• Digital Control & Humiliation: Mandatory 24/7 group chat monitoring with instant response requirements; forced posting of embarrassing content on social media; location tracking via apps.
• Disguised Physical Abuse: “Mandatory workouts” that are actually punitive beatings or exhaustive calisthenics leading to rhabdomyolysis (as in the UH Pi Kappa Phi case); sleep deprivation dressed as “team bonding” overnight sessions.
• Coerced Consumption: Forced drinking games (“family tree,” “Bible study,” “lineups”); forced eating of absurd or harmful quantities of food (hot dogs, milk, raw onions) until illness.
• Psychological Torture: Systematic humiliation, isolation from non-members, threats of expulsion from the group for non-compliance, “silent treatment,” and enforced secrecy from parents and university officials.
• Sexualized Rituals: Forced nudity, simulated sexual acts, and degrading positions intended to shame and break down new members.

The common thread is an extreme power imbalance where “consent” is meaningless. A student desperate to belong, facing social isolation and threats, cannot freely consent to their own abuse. Texas law recognizes this: consent is not a defense to hazing.

The Texas Legal Framework: Criminal Penalties & Civil Liability

When hazing occurs in Texas, two parallel legal paths exist: criminal prosecution by the state and civil lawsuits filed by victims and families. Understanding both is crucial.

Texas Hazing Law (Education Code Chapter 37)

• Definition: Broadly covers any reckless or intentional act that endangers physical or mental health for initiation/affiliation purposes, on or off campus.
• Criminal Penalties:
  • Class B Misdemeanor: Basic hazing (up to 180 days jail, $2,000 fine).
  • Class A Misdemeanor: Hazing that causes injury requiring medical attention.
  • State Jail Felony: Hazing that causes serious bodily injury or death.
  • Also Illegal: Failing to report hazing or retaliating against someone who reports.
• Organizational Liability: The fraternity, sorority, or team itself can be fined up to $10,000 per violation.
• Key Protections: Individuals who in good faith report hazing or call 911 in an emergency are granted immunity from certain liabilities, even if they were involved or underage drinking occurred.

Civil Lawsuits for Damages

A criminal case punishes the wrongdoer. A civil case seeks to make the victim and family whole and hold all responsible parties accountable. Potential defendants in a civil hazing lawsuit include:

1. The Individual Perpetrators: The members who planned, carried out, or covered up the abuse.
2. The Local Chapter: As an organization that authorized, encouraged, or failed to stop the conduct.
3. The National Fraternity/Sorority: Headquarters that collect dues, set policies, and often have deep knowledge of prior similar incidents at other chapters. Their failure to adequately supervise or intervene is a major source of liability.
4. The University: Public universities like UH, Texas A&M, and UT Austin have a duty to protect students. They can be liable for “deliberate indifference” if they knew of a substantial risk and failed to act. Private schools like SMU and Baylor have similar duties.
5. Property Owners & Third Parties: Landlords of off-campus houses, owners of retreat venues, or alcohol providers.

Damages in a civil case can include:

• Economic: All medical bills (ER, hospitalization, surgery, future care, therapy), lost wages, and loss of future earning capacity.
• Non-Economic: Pain and suffering, emotional distress, PTSD, humiliation, loss of enjoyment of life.
• Wrongful Death: Funeral costs, loss of financial support, and loss of companionship for families.

Where Rye Families Send Their Kids: The Texas Campus Landscape

Robertson County students often attend universities across the state. Our investigative data engine tracks the Greek ecosystems at these schools, knowing that the same national organizations operate at multiple campuses.

University of Houston (UH)

UH students from our area are part of a large Greek community. The ongoing Leonel Bermudez v. UH & Pi Kappa Phi case is a stark example of what can happen. The lawsuit alleges UH failed to protect a student from known dangers in a recognized fraternity. For Rye families, this case proves that severe hazing is not a distant problem.

Texas A&M University

Many Central Texas students choose Texas A&M. Its Greek life and Corps of Cadets have faced serious hazing allegations. In one lawsuit, a cadet alleged being bound in a “roasted pig” position with an apple in his mouth. In another, Sigma Alpha Epsilon (SAE) pledges suffered chemical burns requiring skin grafts from being doused with cleaner. These cases show hazing permeates both Greek and military-style traditions.

University of Texas at Austin

UT Austin maintains a public hazing violations log, providing rare transparency. Entries show repeated sanctions for organizations like Pi Kappa Alpha for forced consumption and strenuous calisthenics. This public record can be powerful evidence in a civil case, demonstrating a pattern of known misconduct.

Baylor University & Southern Methodist University (SMU)

These private institutions have their own histories. Baylor’s baseball team faced a hazing scandal resulting in suspensions. At SMU, Kappa Alpha Order was suspended for paddling and forced drinking. The legal strategies for private schools differ but the goal of accountability remains the same.

The Greek Ecosystem: Public Records & National Patterns

We maintain a Texas Hazing Intelligence Engine built from public IRS records, university data, and national databases. This allows us to identify every entity that may share liability. For Rye families, this means we don’t start from scratch; we know the landscape.

A Snapshot of Texas Greek Organizations (From Public IRS Filings):

• Beta Nu Pi Kappa Phi Fraternity Housing Corporation Inc | EIN: 46-2267515 | Frisco, TX 75035
• Pi Kappa Phi Delta Omega Chapter Building Corporation | EIN: 37-1768785 | Missouri City, TX 77459
• Sigma Chi Fraternity Epsilon Xi Chapter | EIN: 74-6084905 | Houston, TX 77204
• Kappa Sigma – Mu Camma Chapter Inc | EIN: 13-3048786 | College Station, TX 77845
• Texas Kappa Sigma Educational Foundation Inc | EIN: 74-1380362 | Fort Worth, TX 76147
• Building Corporation of Delta Chapter of Alpha Delta Pi | EIN: 74-6047117 | Austin, TX 78705

This is just a fraction of over 1,400 Greek-related entities we track across 25 Texas metros. When a student at UT is hazed by Pi Kappa Alpha, we can immediately identify the local chapter house corporation, the alumni association, and the national headquarters—each a potential source of recovery and accountability.

National patterns matter. The fraternity that hazed a student at Texas A&M is often the same national organization whose chapter killed a student at Bowling Green (Pi Kappa Alpha/Stone Foltz) or LSU (Phi Delta Theta/Max Gruver). This establishes foreseeability—the national organization knew or should have known this could happen because it has happened before in the exact same way.

Building a Case: The Attorney911 Data-Driven Advantage

When you contact us about a hazing incident, we deploy a systematic investigation built on our unique expertise:

1. Immediate Evidence Preservation: We guide you to secure digital evidence (group chats, social media) before it’s deleted. We work with digital forensics experts to recover what may already be lost.
2. Identifying All Responsible Parties: Using our Texas Hazing Intelligence Engine, we map the entire organizational structure behind the fraternity or sorority—from the local chapter treasurer to the national insurance policy.
3. Uncovering “Notice” and Pattern: We subpoena records from the national fraternity and university to uncover prior complaints, violations, and internal warnings that were ignored. This transforms an “isolated incident” into proof of systemic failure.
4. Navigating Insurance Coverage: Our attorney, Mr. Lupe Peña, spent years as an insurance defense lawyer for large companies. He knows exactly how fraternity and university insurers try to deny claims, undervalue injuries, and drag out cases. We use that insider knowledge to fight for full compensation.
5. Proven Litigation Strength: Managing partner Ralph Manginello was one of the few plaintiff attorneys involved in the BP Texas City explosion litigation. We are not intimidated by billion-dollar institutions, national fraternities, or university legal teams. We’ve faced them before.

Practical Steps & FAQs for Rye Parents and Students

For Parents: Warning Signs

• Unexplained injuries, bruises, or burns.
• Extreme fatigue, sleep deprivation, weight changes.
• Sudden secrecy about group activities; fear of phone notifications.
• Personality shifts: anxiety, depression, withdrawal.
• Declining academic performance.
• Requests for unexplained large sums of money.

For Students: Your Rights

• You can say no. You can leave. True brotherhood/sisterhood is not built on abuse.
• Texas law protects those who call 911. If someone needs help, call. Your safety overrides any “code of silence.”
• Document everything safely. Screenshot messages, photograph injuries, tell a trusted person outside the group.
• You are not to blame. “Consent” under pressure is not real consent in the eyes of the law.

Frequent Questions

• Can we sue if it happened off-campus? Yes. Liability is based on relationships and control, not just geography. National fraternities and universities can still be responsible for off-campus conduct.
• What if my child “agreed” to it? Texas law states consent is NOT a defense to hazing. The power imbalance and coercive environment negate true consent.
• How long do we have to file a lawsuit? In Texas, the statute of limitations for personal injury is generally two years from the date of injury. However, deadlines can be complex—do not wait.
• Will this be public? Many cases resolve through confidential settlements. We always prioritize your family’s privacy while fighting for public accountability to prevent future harm.

Why Rye Families Choose Attorney911 for Hazing Cases

We are a Texas-based complex litigation firm with a national reach in hazing cases. We combine insider insurance knowledge, deep investigative resources, and a track record of facing massive institutions. We represent the Leonel Bermudez family in their $10 million lawsuit against UH and Pi Kappa Phi because we believe in forcing change. When your child’s safety and future are on the line, you need more than a lawyer; you need advocates who understand the machinery of institutional denial and know how to dismantle it.

We offer free, confidential consultations. We listen without judgment, explain your options in clear terms, and work on a contingency fee basis—you pay no fee unless we recover money for you.

If hazing has hurt your child, do not face this alone. Contact us today.

Call the Legal Emergency Lawyers™ at 1-888-ATTY-911 (1-888-288-9911)
Direct: (713) 528-9070 | 24/7 Cell: (713) 443-4781
Email: ralph@atty911.com or lupe@atty911.com
Se habla Español.

Serving families in Rye, Robertson County, and across Texas from our offices in Houston, Austin, and Beaumont.

Plain Text Links to Key Resources:

News Coverage of the UH Pi Kappa Phi Case:

• Click2Houston Investigation: https://www.click2houston.com/news/local/2025/11/21/only-on-2-lawsuit-alleges-severe-hazing-at-university-of-houstons-pi-kappa-phi-chapter-fraternity/
• ABC13 Coverage: https://abc13.com/post/waterboarding-forced-eating-physical-punishment-lawsuit-alleges-abuse-faced-injured-pledge-uhs-pi-kappa-phi-fraternity/18186418/

Attorney911 Educational Videos:

• Using Your Phone to Document Evidence: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLbpzrmogTs
• Texas Statutes of Limitations: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRHwg8tV02c
• Client Mistakes to Avoid: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3IYsoxOSxY
• How Contingency Fees Work: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upcI_j6F7Nc

Main Firm Website:

• Contact Attorney911: https://attorney911.com

Legal Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. An attorney-client relationship is not formed until a written agreement is signed. If you have been affected by hazing, please contact an attorney immediately to discuss the specific facts of your case.