215 hazing incidents since 2018: The state of hazing in Texas

Just 59% of Texas’s colleges and universities publicly disclose campus hazing incidents as required by state law, according to a HazingInfo investigation

Editor’s note: This is part of our blog series, “The State of Hazing,” investigating the impact of hazing laws in nine states that require public disclosure of hazing incidents.

Texas colleges and universities have reported 215 hazing incidents since 2018 — including 49 incidents at the state’s flagship campus, Texas A&M University.

But the number of hazing reports is based on only a partial public accounting of incidents by Texas campuses and is likely much higher. 

Just 59% of the state’s colleges and universities are following a Texas state law that requires posting hazing incident reports prominently on their websites.

Those are the findings from HazingInfo’s investigation of 73 Texas colleges and universities with bachelor’s degree programs.

The state lawmaker who wrote the 2019 bill requiring hazing transparency calls Texas’s low compliance rate “deeply troubling.”

“I authored that law to ensure transparency and accountability across all Texas institutions because students deserve to be protected from harm and informed about the risks they face,” said state Sen. Judith Zaffirini in a written statement to HazingInfo.

“To improve these numbers and help end hazing, Texas must take stronger action,” Zaffirini said. “That includes passing legislation that imposes harsher penalties for hazing and requiring colleges and universities to be fully transparent in disclosing incidents.”

29 Texas campuses report at least one hazing incident

Many of Texas’s 215 reported hazing incidents were concentrated on five campuses:

Texas A&M - College Station: 49 hazing incidents
Texas Tech: 28
The University of Texas at Austin: 23
Baylor University and Southern Methodist University: 16 (tie)

None of the universities responded to multiple requests for comment.

Texas is one of nine US states with laws or policies requiring college campuses to post their hazing incidents online.

Across all nine states, HazingInfo’s investigation found 999 reported hazing incidents on 173 campuses between 2018 and 2025. This marks the first time the total number of reported US hazing incidents has been tallied.

Texas college hazing data, 2018 to November 2025

Latest hazing death reported at UT Austin

The HazingInfo investigation only included misconduct that each institution formally determined to be hazing. It omitted other kinds of misconduct like alcohol violations or assaults that weren’t officially labeled as hazing.

All but three Texas campuses (Austin College, Southwestern University, and Wiley University) have a formal hazing policy as required by state and federal law. All but nine campuses provide an online reporting form where hazing incidents can be reported.

Twenty-eight Texas college students have been killed by hazing since 1928, according to HazingInfo’s Hazing Death Database. The most recent recorded hazing death is Sawyer Updike, a pledge in Sigma Chi fraternity at the University of Texas at Austin.

Updike’s family filed a lawsuit last month alleging Sawyer endured torture at the hands of fraternity members, including being beaten, burned with cigarettes, pierced with a staple gun, and forced to use illegal drugs, before taking his own life in 2024. 

“A recipe for disaster”

It’s been 23 years since Mark Warren got a phone call from his son, Clay, just before Clay left for a retreat with the fraternity he was joining, Tau Kappa Epsilon.

Clay, a freshman at Texas Tech, asked his dad if he thought he would be hazed at the retreat. “You’ve got your phone, I’ll come get you if they do,” Mark Warren told his son.

Clay was killed in a car accident as he was returning to campus from the retreat, where the new members were deprived of sleep. He was a passenger in a car driven by another member who fell asleep at the wheel before the crash. 

“It’s the hardest thing. Clay was our only child,” Mark Warren said.

Mark and his wife, Freada, worked with state lawmakers to pass anti-hazing legislation in memory of Clay.

Warren estimates he has testified on hazing bills in front of the Texas Legislature 50 times. In 2008, lawmakers passed what Mark calls “Clay’s Bill,” a law requiring fraternities, sororities, and college professionals involved in student activities to attend an annual risk management course at the start of each academic year.

The idea is to teach student leaders and others how to plan events that minimize the risk of student harm and discourage hazing, overconsumption of alcohol, and illegal activities.

“With social media, these kids can plan a party in 30 minutes and have 1,000 people come, and it’s just a recipe for disaster,” Warren said.  

But with no penalty written into the law, Warren said many schools stopped meeting the requirement after a couple semesters.

More adult supervision to help stop hazing

Warren also works directly with Texas Tech leaders, who have been more committed to the risk management trainings.

Every semester, Warren meets with officers of each Texas Tech fraternity and sorority for a risk management training. He introduces each gathering by sharing Clay’s story.

But Warren remains concerned that colleges and universities like Texas Tech don’t have enough adult supervision in fraternities and sororities to head off potential problems.

“I’m not satisfied with 28 (reported incidents) at Texas Tech,” he said. “I truly believe the only way to bring those numbers down is to take control back from these boys” by requiring chapter advisers to be present and trained in hazing prevention.

The role of national fraternity organizations and alumni in hazing

Warren also lays blame for hazing with fraternity alumni “who never grew up” and continue to perpetuate hazing rituals. And he faults national fraternity organizations, which he said have replaced the idea of building brotherhood with building a big business.

“All they care about is the dues. It’s just a business,” he said.

Tau Kappa Epsilon was barred from the Texas Tech campus after Clay’s death until they successfully petitioned to return. “They brought all the brass from the nationals, they told us how they were going to do this and that. In two years, they were in trouble again” and kicked off campus a second time, Warren said. 

“And now they want to come back again,” Warren said. “I told the dean, ‘If you let them back, you’re crazy.’”

Warren is disappointed colleges and Greek organizations aren’t making more progress in ending hazing.

“My goal for the rest of my life is to . . . help create a system that will promote brotherhood and sisterhood without the hazing traditions,” Warren said.

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Learn about hazing on your campus: HazingInfo's Campus Lookup

Read more in our series on the State of Hazing in Georgia, Louisiana, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Virginia, and Washington.