A lawsuit was filed in mid-January against ASU's Sigma Alpha Epsilon (SAE) chapter and over 50 current and former members, alleging numerous acts of hazing throughout the pledging process.
Two former pledges of ASU SAE filed the lawsuit in the Maricopa County Superior Court. The suit specifically alleged negligence, gross negligence, negligent supervision and intentional infliction of emotional distress, among other claims.
Jeremy Goad, attorney for the plaintiffs, declined to comment on the pending litigation.
The ASU SAE chapter was officially suspended by the University in October 2025, according to a University spokesperson. The suspension followed the emergence of a different lawsuit filed in September against the chapter for the distribution of a non-consensual explicit video.
READ MORE: Lawsuit alleges SAE fraternity member filmed, distributed non consensual explicit video
Since the fraternity's suspension, students residing at the chapter house within the Greek Leadership Village (GLV) have been "relocated to other on-campus housing," according to a statement from the University.
"The new allegations are being investigated, and we encourage students with any additional information or concerns to reach out to the Dean of Students office," the University said in a statement to The State Press.
The allegations laid out in the new suit revolve around a swath of incidents from January into late April of 2024, all related to the ASU SAE pledging process.
The suit said that this pledging process "included several ritualistic 'tasks,'" which were commonly known as hazing. The suit further said "the pledging process was only supposed to be four days, as set forth by the National Fraternity," but alleges that this standard was ignored.
Some of the listed hazing events in the lawsuit included pledges being forced to consume "extremely spicy cheeseballs (2.2 million Scoville Heat Units)," being paddled and being forced to perform physical exercise while other members poured alcohol on them.
During the "Election Night" for the ASU SAE chapter, the suit alleges that several pledges were "water boarded" after being taken to a bathroom, where they allegedly had "their mouths covered with a rag, and water poured on the rag."
Some of the events described in the lawsuit implicated others outside of the pledge class as well.
The suit described an ongoing policy in which pledges were allegedly forced to show their made bed every morning, unless "a female was present in the pledge's bed," in which case the pledge had to record her and send the video to other fraternity members.
"The females recorded were not informed they were being filmed, nor that the recordings would be disseminated to Defendants," the lawsuit said.
Other incidents identified in the suit included the pledges being forced to purchase and partake in drugs like marijuana and cocaine, as well as consume excessive amounts of alcohol.
The lawsuit described one event in particular in which pledges "collectively consumed approximately 10.5 liters of vodka." The event culminated in multiple pledges requiring emergency medical care, including one pledge becoming completely motionless and unresponsive from alcohol consumption, according to the suit.
The harms suffered by the plaintiffs as a result of the alleged hazing, as laid out in the complaint, include the development of substance abuse issues, physical bodily damage and educational setbacks.
Furthering the educational setbacks, the lawsuit claimed that one of the plaintiffs was "compelled to withdraw from Arizona State University … due to severely compromised grades and attendance." The suit alleges that these harms were caused by the pledging experience.
Along with physical and psychological harms alleged in the suit, the plaintiffs alleged serious financial harms from the fraternity from the purchase of alcohol at nine separate events, alongside other expenditures.
Financial and psychological harms were also allegedly inflicted by the chapter's financial treasurer, through threats of "arbitrary monetary fines" and the confiscation of personal belongings.
None of the individual defendants who The State Press was able to contact responded to a request for comment.
Negligent supervision was also alleged against the ASU SAE chapter and the National SAE chapter for their failure to monitor and supervise the activities of ASU SAE members.
Neither the National nor the ASU chapters of SAE responded for comment.
All defendants were further alleged to have violated Arizona statutes prohibiting hazing, as well as University and Arizona Board of Regents policies against hazing.
This latest lawsuit adds to a history of incidents that the ASU SAE chapter has faced in its time on campus.
The 2022 Arizona law that outlaws hazing is also known as "Jack's Law," named after Jack Culolias, a former SAE pledge who was found dead after going missing from an SAE event. His cause of death was eventually found to be an accidental drowning.
READ MORE: Hazing made illegal in Arizona, 10 years after ASU student death
SAE was banned from the University in 2013 due to several incidents, but later returned to campus.
Edited by Jack McCarthy, Henry Smardo, Sophia Braccio and Katrina Michalak.
Reach the reporter at sluba@asu.edu and follow @samluba6 on X.
Like The State Press on Facebook and follow @statepress on X.
Sam Luba is a Senior Reporter with the State Press, focusing on longer form news stories and breaking news coverage. He is a Sophomore studying political science and justice studies, and is a competitor with Sun Devil Mock Trial. He was the Editor-in-Chief of his high school news magazine. He is in his 3rd Semester with the State Press, working previously as a Part-Time Political Reporter.
