MADISON, Wis. — Two members of an unrecognized fraternity near the University of Wisconsin-Madison were arrested Wednesday night after police responding to an anonymous tip found about 30 partially clothed pledges, some with visible injuries, packed into a hot and dirty basement on Langdon Street.
Brayden J. Klein and Samuel N. Vane, both 20, were taken into custody on tentative misdemeanor charges of hazing and disorderly conduct and booked into the Dane County Jail. Each posted $400 bail and was released around 1 a.m. Thursday. No formal charges had been filed as of Friday morning, and it was not immediately clear when the two must appear in court. The incident has triggered parallel investigations by the Madison Police Department and the University of Wisconsin-Madison, while the national Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity organization said it will cooperate fully and expel any member found responsible. Anti-hazing advocates say the case highlights particular dangers posed by fraternity chapters that operate without university oversight.
Officers arrived at the Alpha Epsilon Pi house on the 100 block of Langdon Street at approximately 8:20 p.m. Wednesday after receiving an anonymous tip about an event in the building’s basement. What they found prompted them to declare the gathering unlawful. About 30 young men — described by police as fraternity pledges, the vast majority of them 18 years old — were standing in the basement partially clothed and covered in food, condiments and other liquids. The room’s thermostat had been set to 81 degrees, creating hot and humid conditions inside a space with walls painted black and debris scattered across the floor. Officers escorted all of the men outside and checked them for injuries and signs of incapacitation. Several of the pledges had visible injuries that police said were consistent with being physically assaulted. The fraternity’s president and vice president were both present at the house and spoke with responding officers, according to police, though authorities did not specify whether Klein and Vane held those leadership titles.
Madison Police released a photograph from the scene — with all faces blurred — showing roughly two dozen shirtless men standing in the debris-strewn basement, with the Alpha Epsilon Pi letters visible on a piece of furniture. Klein and Vane were identified as the two individuals arrested, though police did not publicly clarify their specific roles within the chapter. Investigators have not disclosed how long the pledges had been inside the basement before officers arrived, nor have they detailed the full extent of the injuries sustained. Anyone with information about the incident is asked to contact Madison Crime Stoppers. The Madison Police Department said its investigation remains active and ongoing, and officials have encouraged anyone whose safety was jeopardized during Greek life recruitment to contact authorities directly.
Alpha Epsilon Pi has a lengthy and troubled history with the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The chapter was first suspended by the university in 2013 after a 17-year-old and at least one other person were taken to detox following an incident in which alcohol was served at a fraternity party. The suspension was not enough to change the chapter’s conduct. The university formally terminated the fraternity’s status as a recognized student organization in 2015, after a fourth incident involving events, alcohol or both. Despite losing university recognition, the chapter did not disappear. Since 2016, university records show seven additional allegations against the fraternity involving intramural sports violations, disrespectful behavior, underage drinking and hazing. Because Alpha Epsilon Pi’s national organization continued to recognize the Madison chapter, the group retained the legal ability to operate as an unaffiliated fraternity — a status that allowed it to maintain a house just blocks from the heart of a campus that serves roughly 52,000 students, while avoiding direct university monitoring. The national organization’s website lists a Madison chapter called “Pi” but does not cite an affiliation with the university.
The legal process is now moving on two fronts. On the criminal side, Klein and Vane face tentative misdemeanor hazing and disorderly conduct charges pending a formal filing decision by prosecutors. Police said their investigation is continuing and have not ruled out additional arrests or charges. On the university side, UW-Madison’s Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards has opened an inquiry under its nonacademic misconduct process. University officials met with national Alpha Epsilon Pi representatives to review the incident and discuss follow-up actions. Students implicated in the incident are subject to sanctions ranging from a written reprimand to expulsion, the university said. The Office of Student Assistance and Support and University Health Services are providing support to students affected by the incident. It remains unclear whether the university has the authority to sanction students who are members of an unaffiliated chapter, a question that may become central as the investigation develops.
The national Alpha Epsilon Pi organization — which was founded in 1913 as a Jewish fraternity — issued a forceful public statement distancing itself from the conduct alleged in Madison. National spokesperson Jon Pierce said the organization is treating the allegations with the utmost seriousness and will support prosecution to the fullest extent of the law. “Hazing is a betrayal of everything our fraternity stands for,” Pierce said. “There is no place for it in AEPi. No exceptions. No excuses. We educate our members about their responsibility to ‘Be Your Brothers’ Keeper.’ This is not an optional value. It is a fundamental expectation of membership. Anyone who engages in hazing forfeits the privilege of being an AEPi brother.” The national chapter said it would also work with the university in hopes that individual perpetrators face consequences under the student code of conduct. UW-Madison echoed that tone in its own statement, saying it is “fully committed to preventing and addressing hazing and takes all incidents involving our community seriously.” Anti-hazing researchers note that there have been nearly 130 hazing-related deaths in the United States since 2000, an average of five per year, according to HazingInfo.org, a research and advocacy organization that tracks such incidents. Advocates say underground or unaffiliated chapters carry unique risks because no university official monitors their activities or membership practices.
As of Friday, Klein and Vane remained out of jail on bail, with formal charges still pending. The Madison Police Department and UW-Madison’s Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards are both continuing their investigations, and prosecutors have not yet announced a timeline for filing decisions. The next formal milestone will be the charging decision — and potentially a court appearance — for the two arrested fraternity members.
