Fraternity reveals hazing at hellhole frat house where Rutgers student nearly died

🔴 Alpha Sigma Phi shutdown at Rutgers University after 'hazing' hurts 19-year-old student
🔴 Frat house on College Avenue condemned after Oct. 15 incident
🔴 Parents of Penn State hazing victim demand accountability under NJ hazing law

NEW BRUNSWICK— Evidence of hazing has prompted the permanent shutdown of a Rutgers University fraternity chapter, roughly a week after a 19-year-old student was critically hurt there.

The young man, who is from Matawan, was still hospitalized but had improved from critical condition as of Thursday, the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office confirmed.

Alpha Sigma Phi was no longer a registered student organization at Rutgers and is not allowed to operate on campus, The Daily Targum reported.

The national umbrella organization has now acknowledged the hazing at the fraternity, contradicting the narrative pushed by at least one parent of a fraternity brother who claimed the injury was a result of an accident involving dangerous building conditions at the privately owned frat house.

“Based on our investigation, hazing did occur and as a result, the fraternity made the decision to close the chapter,“ Alpha Sigma Phi President and CEO Gordy Heminger said in a statement to New Jersey 101.5 on Friday.

NJ.com reported that Heminger also said that the incident involved electricity, water and “underground and unreported new members."

As of Friday afternoon, the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office had no comment on potential case developments.

Read More: What we know about Rutgers student injury and hazing accusations

Fraternity house condemned after shocking hazing incident

The fraternity-owned house at 106 College Avenue has been condemned and shuttered since shortly after the harrowing incident on Oct. 15.

Rutgers University police responded to a disconnected 911 call before 1 a.m. on Oct. 15, and found other students loading an unconscious student into a private vehicle.

“Hazing has no part in the Alpha Sigma Phi experience. It is not condoned nor is it tolerated”  Heminger previously said to New Jersey 101.5, a week earlier.

Read More: Rutgers hazing claim sparks fury from Penn State victim’s family

NJ has a strict anti-hazing law

Hazing is a third-degree crime if it results in death or serious bodily injury in New Jersey, under a state law in effect since March 2022.

Gov. Phil Murphy signed the law in a 2021 ceremony attended by New Jersey parents, Jim and Evelyn Piazza, whose 19-year-old son, Timothy, died in a fraternity hazing ritual at Penn State University in 2017.

The law also qualifies hazing as a fourth-degree crime, rather than a disorderly persons offense, if it results in bodily injury.

Piazzas, who lost son, say ‘Hazing is not an accident’

“We are greatly disturbed by what happened to this young man and we are very disappointed to see posts by parents at Rutgers who are commenting on how bad their kids were hazed and yet no one ever reported,” Evelyn Piazza previously said to New Jersey 101.5.

“Parents are part of the problem if they aren’t speaking up to keep their kids and other kids safe,” she said.

⚠️ Rutgers frat house had long history of safety violations

The Alpha Sigma Phi College Avenue frat house, which had been permitted to have up to 11 residents, had building violations for at least a decade.

Most recent reports, including one dated Sept. 19, say previous wire and electrical issues had been “abated” upon previous re-inspection.

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