The Complete Guide to Hazing Laws, Cases & Legal Rights for Families in West Orange & All of Texas

If Your Child Was Hazed at a Texas University: A West Orange Family’s Guide to Justice and Accountability

We understand the quiet fear that can settle into a home in West Orange when a phone call comes from college. Maybe your son at Lamar University in nearby Beaumont sounds exhausted and secretive about his fraternity activities. Perhaps your daughter at the University of Houston mentions “mandatory” late-night events that interfere with her studies. Or you hear worrying stories from other Orange County families about what really happens during pledge periods at Texas A&M, UT Austin, or other campuses across our state.

Right now, in Houston, our firm is litigating one of the most serious hazing cases in Texas: the $10 million lawsuit on behalf of Leonel Bermudez against the University of Houston and the Pi Kappa Phi Beta Nu chapter. According to detailed media coverage in the Click2Houston report on UH Pi Kappa Phi hazing case and ABC13 coverage of Leonel Bermudez’s UH hazing lawsuit, Bermudez suffered rhabdomyolysis and acute kidney failure after enduring forced consumption of milk and hot dogs until vomiting, being sprayed with a hose “similar to waterboarding,” and extreme physical workouts including 100+ push-ups and 500 squats.

This comprehensive guide exists because families in West Orange, Orange County, and throughout Texas deserve to know the truth about hazing: what it really looks like in 2025, what Texas law says, what’s happening at our state’s universities, and what legal rights your family has when tradition turns to trauma.

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 Texas Students

Beyond the Stereotypes: Modern Hazing Realities

When West Orange parents think of hazing, they might imagine outdated scenes from movies: paddling, silly pranks, or harmless initiation rituals. The reality in 2025 is far more sophisticated, dangerous, and digitally enabled. Today’s hazing operates across three escalating tiers that every Texas family should recognize.

Tier 1: Subtle Hazing – Often dismissed as “harmless tradition” but creates psychological harm and power imbalances:

• Digital control: 24/7 group chat monitoring, required instant responses at all hours, location tracking via Find My Friends or Snapchat Maps
• Servitude requirements: Acting as designated drivers at 3 AM, cleaning members’ apartments, running personal errands
• Social isolation: Cutting off contact with non-members, requiring permission to socialize with family or old friends
• Academic interference: Mandatory late-night meetings during exam weeks, “study blocks” that are actually surveillance sessions

Tier 2: Harassment Hazing – Creates hostile, abusive environments:

• Sleep deprivation: Wake-up calls at 3 AM for “mandatory activities,” multi-day events with minimal sleep
• Forced consumption: Eating spoiled food, drinking hot sauce, consuming excessive amounts of bland foods (milk, bread, hot dogs)
• Public humiliation: Wearing degrading costumes in public, performing embarrassing acts while being filmed
• Extreme exercise: “Smokings” with hundreds of push-ups, wall sits until collapse, runs until vomiting

Tier 3: Violent Hazing – High potential for injury, sexual assault, or death:

• Forced alcohol consumption: “Lineup” drinking games, Big/Little nights with handles of liquor, “Bible study” drinking games
• Physical beatings: Paddling, punching, kicking, “branding” with burns or cuts
• Sexualized hazing: Forced nudity, simulated sexual acts, “roasted pig” positions
• Dangerous environments: Locked in freezing rooms, left outside in extreme weather, denied bathroom access

Where Hazing Happens in Texas Colleges

While fraternities receive most media attention, hazing permeates many campus organizations that West Orange students join:

• Fraternities and Sororities (IFC, Panhellenic, NPHC, multicultural groups)
• Corps of Cadets / ROTC at Texas A&M and other military-style programs
• Athletic Teams from football and basketball to cheerleading and baseball
• Spirit Organizations like Texas Cowboys, Cheer, and Dance teams
• Marching Bands and Performance Groups
• Academic and Service Organizations

The common thread isn’t the type of organization but the toxic combination of tradition, secrecy, and power imbalance that allows abusive behaviors to continue despite university policies and state laws.

Texas Hazing Law: What Orange County Families Need to Know

The Texas Education Code: Your Child’s Legal Protection

Texas has specific anti-hazing provisions in Chapter 37, Subchapter F of the Education Code that protect students from Orange County to El Paso. The law defines hazing broadly and provides significant protections for victims.

§ 37.151 Definition: Hazing means any intentional, knowing, or reckless act, on or off campus, directed against a student that endangers mental or physical health or safety and occurs for purposes of pledging, initiation, affiliation, holding office, or maintaining membership in any organization whose members include students.

Key Texas Law Provisions:

• Location doesn’t matter: Hazing can occur on