Two leaders of an unrecognized University of Wisconsin-Madison fraternity were arrested on September 23, 2026, after police responding to an anonymous tip found about 30 pledges partially clothed, covered in food and condiments and, in some cases, visibly injured in a sweltering basement. Brayden J. Klein and Samuel N. Vane, both 20, were arrested for alleged hazing and disorderly conduct, and the Madison fraternity hazing case is still under investigation.
Madison police said they got the tip about an event in the basement of an off-campus Alpha Epsilon Pi house. Officers were sent to the 100 block of Langdon Street at about 8:20 p.m., according to the Madison Police Department.
Inside, NBC News reported, police found about 30 pledges, most of them 18 years old, in a filthy basement. Police described them as “covered in food, condiments, and other liquids” and said some “had visible injuries consistent with being physically assaulted.”
The thermostat was set to 81 degrees, which police said made the room hot and humid. Officers declared the event unlawful and escorted everyone outside.
The Daily Cardinal identified Klein as the chapter’s president and Vane as its vice president. Both were taken to Dane County Jail, and NBC News reported each posted $400 bail and walked out around 1 a.m. on September 24, 2026.
A chapter the university dropped in 2015
The house sits in an odd gray area. UW-Madison stopped recognizing Alpha Epsilon Pi as a campus organization in 2015, but the national fraternity kept recognizing its Madison chapter, which let it keep operating in the community. Anti-hazing advocates say that underground chapters carry a particular risk because college officials are not monitoring them.
The university said it will investigate students “implicated in the incident.” The national fraternity, which was founded as a Jewish fraternity in 1913, said it was taking the allegations “extremely seriously” and would “cooperate fully with the authorities investigating this matter.”
“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.”
The national group added: “Hazing is a betrayal of everything our fraternity stands for … Anyone who engages in hazing forfeits the privilege of being an AEPi brother.” It also said it hopes the university will act against individual perpetrators for violations of the student code of conduct.
Rumors about the night spread on UW-Madison’s YikYak page. Police Public Information Officer Stephanie Fryer responded, telling The Daily Cardinal that police had “no information to suggest feces was involved, but this remains an open and active investigation.”
Madison police Capt. Kipp Hartman told WISN that officers would contact the national chapter and that additional sanctions could be possible.
The case also sits against a grim backdrop. HazingInfo.org, a research and advocacy site, counts almost 130 hazing-related deaths in the United States since 2000, an average of five a year.
The national fraternity has since acted against the Madison chapter. WKOW reported on October 8, 2026, that AEPi headquarters issued a cease-and-desist directive suspending chapter programming while it investigates alleged violations of its health and safety guidelines. WISN said the directive bars new-member meetings, social and brotherhood events, philanthropy events and chapter social-media activity, while still allowing essential executive-board administrative duties.
WKOW also reported that Klein and Vane had not yet been formally charged, and that the Dane County District Attorney’s Office had no timeline for filing charges.
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