Four students at the University of Texas contend in a lawsuit that they were unjustly disciplined by the university after participating in fraternity-directed activities.

The 34-page lawsuit, filed last week in federal court, doesn’t say exactly what conduct prompted school officials to place the unnamed male undergraduates on disciplinary probation and require them to participate in an academic integrity tutorial. But the tutorial requirement suggests that they were accused of some sort of academic misconduct.

The lawsuit, which seeks class action status, claims that fraternity members are sanctioned far more often than sorority members in violation of Title IX, the federal law banning discrimination on the basis of sex at educational institutions receiving federal funding.

"The university treats all students and student organizations equally under its rules and policies,” spokesman J.B. Bird said in a statement. The university has yet to file a response in court to the lawsuit’s allegations.

Terry P. Gorman, the lawyer representing the four students, did not respond to requests for comment. The students, listed as Jon1, Jon2 and so forth, claim in the lawsuit that they were “coerced and under the duress” of the unnamed fraternity as pledges but that their actions “in no manner whatsoever harmed any other student or person” at UT.

They say UT’s student conduct investigations and proceedings under the dean of students’ office amount to a “draconian disciplinary dragnet” and a “reign of terror.” They say their mental health has deteriorated, and their future job prospects could be impaired because some employers ask whether applicants were disciplined in college. The students want all records indicating they were the subject of a disciplinary matter removed from university files.

The lawsuit also criticizes UT's policy of not permitting a lawyer to represent students in conduct proceedings. Bird said that, while these are not legal proceedings, advisers — including lawyers — can be present to confer with students but cannot speak for them. Academic misconduct sanctions, such as a requirement to attend an ethics lecture or write a "reflection" paper, have an educational purpose as well as a disciplinary aspect, he said.