Last month, prosecutors in Pennsylvania announced that they planned to charge members of an Asian-American fraternity, Pi Delta Psi, in connection with a hazing-related death of a freshman at Baruch College in Manhattan during a retreat in the Poconos in December 2013. At least three other students have died during activities at Asian-American fraternities since 2005, and many more have been injured, resulting in a spate of criminal prosecutions, lawsuits and school disciplinary actions against fraternities and their members.

Image Chun Hsien Deng

It is difficult to say whether abuses are more common in Asian-American organizations than in others. There are no official statistics on fraternity deaths and injuries across the United States. But people who have studied the issue say they have been surprised by the number of episodes, given that Asian-American fraternities occupy just a small corner of the collegiate Greek world.

“There shouldn’t be this many deaths, this many cases, for this small number of organizations, chapters and members, ” said Walter M. Kimbrough, the president of Dillard University in New Orleans, who is leading a task force on hazing prevention for the North-American Interfraternity Conference.

Across the country, there are more than 65 Asian-American fraternities and sororities, by some estimates, though most have small memberships and operate without permanent headquarters, professional staff or campus housing for students. Lambda Phi Epsilon International Fraternity, one of the largest with dozens of chapters, has experienced the most problems, including three deaths. Peter Tran, 18, a student at San Francisco State University, died after attending a fraternity party in 2013; the fraternity was subsequently expelled by university officials. Phanta Phoummarath, 18, a freshman at the University of Texas at Austin, died after drinking at a fraternity party in 2005; his family received a $4.2 million settlement in a lawsuit against Lambda Phi Epsilon and its members.