Cops found nearly 30 half-naked teenagers smeared in condiments and packed into a sweltering basement — and the university that was supposed to be policing this banned the fraternity responsible more than a decade ago.
University of Wisconsin-Madison terminated Alpha Epsilon Pi's campus status in 2015. The chapter kept right on operating, backed by its national organization, and now two of its student leaders face misdemeanor charges after an anonymous tip led police to the scene Wednesday night. The same administrators who posture about equity and inclusion couldn't stop a rogue frat from running hazing rituals in plain sight during rush week.
Madison police responded to the AEPi house on Langdon Street around 8:20 p.m. Inside the basement, officers found around 30 partially clothed young men — the "vast majority" 18 years old — covered in food, condiments, and other liquids, according to Capt. Kipp Hartman. Several had visible injuries "consistent with being physically assaulted." Hartman described the marks as "something fresh, potentially like a strike to the body, not an old injury." The thermostat was cranked to 81 degrees, creating what police called a hot and humid environment.
Fraternity president Brayden Klein and vice president Samuel Vane, both 20, were arrested on suspicion of misdemeanor hazing and disorderly conduct. Both were booked into the Dane County Jail. The district attorney's office will review the case before deciding on formal charges.
Police collected statements from everyone inside, but cooperation was limited. "Some statements also did not align with what everybody else's statements were, so there were some concerns with what was being said," Hartman said. Students near the house declined to speak on camera Thursday, some citing fear of retaliation. Hartman also said police are monitoring "misinformation spreading on social media" and encouraged anyone with firsthand information to come forward, suggesting cooperators may not be prosecuted.
Here is the institutional failure. UW-Madison "terminated" this AEPi chapter in 2015 — a full decade ago. The university calls it "unrecognized and unaccredited." But Alpha Epsilon Pi's national organization, which oversees the historically Jewish fraternity's network, continues to recognize the chapter, meaning it is "legally allowed to operate as a fraternity chapter unaffiliated with the university," as UW-Madison's own statement conceded. The national leadership kept this chapter alive despite a decade-long campus ban — and now university officials have met with national AEPi leaders to "review the incident and discuss possible next steps," Live 5 News reported.
The university issued boilerplate: "UW–Madison is fully committed to preventing and addressing hazing and takes all incidents involving our community seriously." The statement warned of sanctions — "written reprimand, disciplinary probation, disciplinary suspension, termination, or educational sanctions." But this chapter was already terminated. It didn't stop them. Neither source names the UW-Madison chancellor or any specific administrator responsible for a decade of failure to enforce the ban.
No one required medical treatment Wednesday night. Two 20-year-old frat officers sit in the dock. The national organization that kept a banned chapter operating faces a meeting. The university that couldn't enforce its own termination issues a press release. The question is whether anyone beyond the student scapegoats will answer for this — or whether the adults who enabled it get to walk away with another strongly worded statement.
