New members of a Texas Christian University fraternity were blindfolded and locked in a closet, told to perform acts with sex toys and burned when they were forced to hold a lit match while reciting the Greek alphabet, according to a police investigation into hazing.
The fraternity, Delta Tau Delta, was ordered to close its TCU chapter last month.
TCU Fraternity Members Were Burned in Hazing: Police
The allegations are detailed in TCU police documents obtained by NBC 5 under the Texas open records law. The university initially declined to say whether police had launched an investigation.
According to the documents, a student told a campus administrator about the alleged hazing on Nov. 1. The administrator notified campus police the same day. A criminal investigation began immediately.
The complaint said new members, or pledges, were:
- Required to hold a lit match while reciting the Greek alphabet. The match could not be blown out until the pledge successfully finished. Some of the them were burned.
- Forced to do planks and push-ups.
- Had their forearms burned by lighters at a bar by active members of the fraternity.
- Blindfolded and held in a closet for more than one hour.
- Told to "perform sex motions with sex dolls and toys."
The student also complained of "rampant racism," according to the report.
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The day after receiving the complaint, police called 32 pledges to a meeting where they were interviewed by detectives. A few of them had visible injuries on their fingers and forearms and were photographed.
The alleged victims declined to pursue criminal charges and the investigation was closed a week later.
"Although the investigation did reveal criminal conduct, there were no cooperating witnesses," a police report said.
Police did obtain group text messages among the pledges.
In announcing the closure of its TCU chapter last month, the national Delta Tau Delta fraternity said it closed the TCU chapter after an investigation "confirmed multiple violations of the fraternity's risk management policy, including hazing, during the fall 2017 semester."
The national fraternity said hazing will not be tolerated.
A fraternity spokesman on Thursday said the organization would have no further comment.
TCU issued a statement last month saying it expects all student organizations to follow rules of proper conduct. On Thursday, the university issued the following statement:
Texas Christian University was disappointed to learn of hazing allegations against one of its campus fraternities. When TCU’s Office of Campus Life was notified of the charges, the university immediately placed the group under a cease-and-desist order and notified the fraternity’s national chapter, which subsequently elected to close the chapter at the university. TCU Police investigated; an inquiry into whether reported behaviors violated the student code of conduct will follow the police investigation, the results of which are independent and separate from any legal charges. TCU expects its students to behave in an ethical manner, abide by campus policies and adhere to state and federal law.
