Fraternity Leaders Shock Campus with Disturbing Basement Hazing

The leaders of an unrecognized University of Wisconsin fraternity were arrested after cops found around 30 partially clothed teen pledges smeared in condiments and huddled in a sweltering, filthy basement.

Fraternity president Brayden J. Klein and vice president Samuel N. Vane, both 20, were arrested Wednesday for misdemeanor hazing and misdemeanor disorderly conduct after police discovered the troubling scene while acting on an anonymous tip.

Police entered the Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity house in Madison around 8:20 p.m. Wednesday, and found the men, some of whom had “visible injuries consistent with being physically assaulted,” covered in food, condiments and other liquids, according to the incident report.

The room was muggy and overheated because a thermostat had been set to a sweltering 81 degrees, police said.

Everyone inside the home was escorted outside by police, and the pledges — the “vast majority” of whom were 18 years old — were checked for incapacitation and injuries.

Police described the fraternity as an “unrecognized and unaccredited” student organization, which was “terminated” by U of W more than a decade ago.

“UW–Madison is fully committed to preventing and addressing hazing and takes all incidents involving our community seriously,” the university said in a statement Thursday.

“Any student determined to be in violation of law, regulation, or university policy may be subject to sanctions according to Wis. Admin. Code Chapter UWS 17,” it warned.

“These sanctions may include a written reprimand, disciplinary probation, disciplinary suspension, termination, or educational sanctions.”

The university noted that although the Alpha Epsilon Pi chapter was banned, it remains a nationally recognized fraternity and therefore is legally allowed to operate as a chapter unaffiliated with the school.