The fraternity’s president and vice president were arrested and charged with hazing and disorderly conduct
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NEED TO KNOW
- Brayden J. Klein and Samuel N. Vane, the president and vice president of UW-Madison’s unaffiliated AePi chapter, were arrested and charged with hazing and disorderly conduct
- The fraternity is not affiliated with the university but is recognized by its national organization and operates independently
- Victims, mostly 18-year-old men, were found with injuries in a hot basement and covered in “food, condiments, and other liquids,” police said
Two 20-year-old men have been arrested in connection with a hazing incident at the University of Wisconsin-Madison..
Police were called to the Alpha Epsilon Pi (AePi) fraternity’s house on Langdon Street at around 8:20 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 23, where they discovered over 30 men covered in “food, condiments and other liquids,” the Madison Police Department (MPD) said in a statement. Police said they heard about the event from an anonymous tip.
The chapter’s president and vice president, Brayden J. Klein and Samuel N. Vane, were arrested and charged with hazing and disorderly conduct. They were booked into the Dane County Jail, and appear to have been released on bond.
Upon arriving at the scene, police allegedly found that the majority of victims present at the hazing incident were 18-year-old men, many of whom bore “visible injuries consistent with being physically assaulted” while in a basement with “hot and humid conditions,” and the thermostat set at 81º Fahrenheit.
AePi has not been recognized on campus since 2015, and the incident is under investigation by the Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards, the university said in a Thursday, Sept. 24 statement. However, the chapter continues to be recognized by its national organization, and thus was legally permitted to operate as a fraternity chapter unaffiliated with the university. The school said that the national chapter is cooperating with the investigation.
“UW–Madison is fully committed to preventing and addressing hazing and takes all incidents involving our community seriously,” the school said.
“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,” the statement added.
Credit: Madison Police Department
The school noted that students implicated in the hazing incident could be facing sanctions of “written reprimand, disciplinary probation, disciplinary suspension, expulsion, or educational sanctions.”
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The Office of Student Assistance and Support and University Health Services are providing student support as needed, the university said.
“Students and community members are encouraged to report incidents of hazing or, as they did in this case, call 911. UW–Madison students can report hazing anonymously via this online form,” the statement continued. “Members of Fraternity & Sorority Life can also anonymously ask questions or report misconduct, such as hazing, via FSL Confidential.”
AePi International said it is cooperating with authorities.
“Any member found responsible for criminal conduct in this matter will be expelled from AEPi, and we will support prosecution to the fullest extent of the law,” fraternity spokesperson Jonathan Pierce said in a statement to PEOPLE. “We will also work with the university in hopes that they will take action against individual perpetrators for violation of the student code of conduct.”
“Hazing is a betrayal of everything our fraternity stands for. There is no place for it in AEPi. No exceptions. No excuses,” Pierce added.
Anyone with information about this incident, or who was actively involved, is asked to contact Madison Area Crime Stoppers at 608-266-6014 or online at p3tips.com.
PEOPLE has reached out to UW-Madison.
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