The president and vice president of Alpha Epsilon Pi (AEPi) were arrested for hazing and disorderly conduct at their fraternity on 112 Langdon St. the night of Sept. 23, according to a Madison Police Department (MPD) incident report.
Officers found “around 30 other partially clothed males,” mostly 18-year-olds, “covered in food, condiments and other liquids” inside the basement of the fraternity.
“Several of these men had visible injuries consistent with being physically assaulted. A thermostat in the room was set to 81 degrees creating hot and humid conditions,” the incident report said.
AEPi Chapter President Brayden Klein and Vice President Samuel Vane, both of whom are 20-years-old, were taken to the Dane County Jail, according to the report.
MPD Public Information Officer Stephanie Fryer said MPD has "no information to suggest feces was involved, but this remains an open and active investigation" in reply to rumors circulating on the University of Wisconsin-Madison's YikYak page. She added that MPD has no say over the fraternity house, directing information requests to the national fraternity chapter.
In a statement, AEPi International said they take the allegations involving their Madison chapter seriously and will "cooperate fully with the authorities investigating this matter," including expelling any member found criminally responsible from AEPi and supporting prosecution "to the fullest extent of the law."
“Hazing is a betrayal of everything our fraternity stands for. There is no place for it in AEPi... anyone who engages in hazing forfeits the privilege of being an AEPi brother," the statement read.
UW-Madison terminated AEPi in 2015 over hosting functions while suspended. They were originally suspended after a 17-year-old minor and another guest were transferred to detox after drinking at the fraternity in Spring 2013.
Between the fraternity’s suspension and their eventual termination, UW-Madison heard of four additional incidents involving events or alcohol.
Siena Schettino told The Daily Cardinal she was studying with her friend at Wisconsin Tri Delta around 10 p.m. last night when her friends first saw a police car outside of AEPi.
She was watching a movie at the sorority house when “the Tri Delta president came into the room and was like, ‘Hey, like, the police are completely shutting down AEPi right now,’” she said. “The entire Tri Delta house ran downstairs to get the best view.” Schettino is not affiliated with Greek life.
Through the window, Schettino saw five cop cars outside of AEPi and two shirtless students in the fraternity’s front yard sitting down and talking to police. Two fully clothed men — Klein and Vane — were also talking to the police, she said.
Around 11 p.m., the police handcuffed and “walked [Klein and Vane] down to the cop cars and took them off,” Schettino said. “The streets were lined on both sides with students on students… everyone on the streets were just waving bye to them as they drove off.”
Schettino told the Cardinal she, Tri Delta members and Delta Gamma members watched from their lawns as around 20 “shirtless and wet” pledges left the AEPi house, carrying bags of clothes back to their dorms.
Schettino said there were still three cop cars outside of the house by the time she went back inside around 11:30 p.m.
“It was the most entertaining Wednesday night of my life, to be honest,” she said.
Victor Salas, who lives next door to the AEPi house, told the Cardinal he heard police yelling on Langdon Street last night.
“I look out my window, and I just see hoards of people all along the sidewalk,” Salas said. “People started coming out of their houses down the street and the next thing I know the whole block was just full of people.”
Salas didn’t know his next door neighbors were a fraternity until Wednesday night, he said.
“I always thought this hazing stuff didn’t happen anymore,” Salas said. “It’s kind of crazy to hear it’s still going on, and I definitely didn’t think it was happening here.”
Since 2016, UW-Madison has received seven allegations concerning the organization — more recently, a report of a student being hospitalized after drinking at the fraternity and an anonymous report detailing “disturbing hazing behavior.”
University of Wisconsin-Madison Police Department Communications Director Marc Lovicott told The Daily Cardinal UWPD is aware of the situation, but directed further inquiries to the MPD.
Vane declined repeated requests to comment on the situation. Felix Quiros-Keller, a former AEPi rush chair, also declined to comment.
The Daily Cardinal was able to reach Noah Refoua, a member of the executive board and Chase Fink, a moderator in the frat’s fall rush Facebook group, but both immediately hung up when asked about last night’s incident.
The Daily Cardinal was not immediately able to reach Klein for comment.
Madison Police Department is currently investigating the incident. UW-Madison will investigate any students “implicated in the incident” for non-academic misconduct.
Editor's note: This article was updated at 3:54 p.m. on Sept. 24 to include a statement from Alpha Epsilon Pi International and additional information from MPD.
Editor's note: This article was updated at 4:30 p.m. to clarify Siena Schettino is not associated with Greek life.
This is a developing story.
Sonia Bendre is the campus news editor for The Daily Cardinal. You can reach her at sonia.bendre@dailycardinal.com.
