Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity indicted on hazing charges after University of Houston pledge ritual Unusual criminal charge targets fraternity, not members

PHOTOS: Recent fraternity scandals that made headlines ... The Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity at the University of Houston has been indicted on a criminal charge for alleged hazing of pledges. See other recent scandals that rocked college campuses across the county ... less PHOTOS: Recent fraternity scandals that made headlines ... The Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity at the University of Houston has been indicted on a criminal charge for alleged hazing of pledges. See other recent ... more Image 1 of / 24 Caption Close Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity indicted on hazing charges after University of Houston pledge ritual 1 / 24 Back to Gallery

A national fraternity was indicted Thursday by a Harris County grand jury in what prosecutors said was a brutal hazing incident at the University of Houston that left one pledge with a lacerated spleen.

The charge against Tennessee-based Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity Inc. is the first for hazing to be filed in Harris County, officials said.

If convicted of the Class B misdemeanor, the fraternity could face a fine of up to $10,000.

The indictment says that in November 2016 one pledge was forced to roll in vomit, spit and feces and had to go without food, drink and sleep during a three-day ritual. He was forced to sleep in a small, contained area, and in one hazing ritual, he was tackled in the dark by fraternity members, which resulted in his hospitalization, according to the indictment.

Prosecutors said the organization was charged, instead of individuals, because the people involved were complicit, indicating a pattern of bad behavior by the fraternity.

“Our goal is to change the culture of fraternities, not to get rid of fraternities, but we want them to stop engaging in hazing because it’s illegal,” prosecutor Amanda Petroff said. “There’s just zero tolerance for this. We don’t want anyone to get hurt, let alone killed.”

The national Pi Kappa Alpha organization said in a statement that it does not control any chapter, its members or their activities. If a chapter violates the fraternity’s standards, local laws or university rules, the fraternity can suspend a chapter’s charter. The national fraternity suspended the UH chapter’s charter in August 2017.

Brent Phillips, a national Pi Kappa Alpha spokesman, declined to discuss pending litigation Thursday. He said all fraternity members receive a statement on what is considered hazing and said that the fraternity does not tolerate hazing.

The fraternity suspended the chapter’s charter, he said, because it “failed to live up to the fraternity’s standards,” though he did not specify how.

Unusual indictment

This is the first time in Harris County that any person or entity has been indicted on hazing charges, Petroff said. Also unusual is that the fraternity itself is facing charges, not individual students.

The decision to charge a fraternity and not individual students is not unprecedented, said Doug Fierberg, a Washington, D.C.-based attorney who specializes in lawsuits involving fraternity death, fraternity rape and hazing.

Prosecution most often arises after “outrageous circumstances that shock the conscious, most often when there’s been significant injury or death,” he said.

Still, Fierberg said, there has been a “cultural change” in how hazing is litigated in the last decade.

Before that, he said, seeing any charges after a hazing incident would be rare. If they existed, the charges would not be criminal, he said, and many hazing incidents at schools resulted only in internal judicial processes at the universities.

“Hazing is not being tolerated the same way,” he said. “At some point, if you want to make a dent in changing longstanding traditions of hazing, you have to hold fraternities themselves accountable for it. They have for decades failed to take appropriate steps to change their traditions and keep potential new recruits safe.”

UH grateful for action

UH said its police helped investigate the incidents, which occurred off campus.

In October, the university suspended Pi Kappa Alpha until 2023.

“We are grateful that our county partners have delivered a stern message through the grand jury’s decision against the fraternity, that such behavior, which jeopardizes the well being of our students, will not be tolerated,” UH said in a statement.

The University of Houston’s interfraternity council has 14 houses listed on its website, including Pi Kappa Alpha. About 1,265 students participated in UH Greek life in spring 2017, the most recent figures available.