Arizona fraternity suspended over claims recruits were forced to swallow live goldfish
The University of Arizona has suspended its Sigma Tau Gamma fraternity chapter after allegations that new members were forced to drink large amounts of alcohol and swallow live goldfish. The case is part of a wider wave of hazing scandals at US universities.
The University of Arizona has suspended its Sigma Tau Gamma fraternity chapter following allegations that new recruits were hazed during the fall 2025 semester. In a letter sent to the chapter earlier in September, Jasmin Hayes, the university's senior student rights and responsibilities coordinator, said new members had been forced to consume large quantities of alcohol and live goldfish, and were subjected to screaming, degradation and threats from active members.
The chapter is now barred from all activities except essential business meetings while the university investigates alleged violations of the student code of conduct, including endangering or causing physical harm to members of the campus community. Hayes warned that a repeat violation, or any attempt to interfere with witnesses, could bring harsher consequences.
Part of a broader pattern
The case follows a series of recent hazing incidents at American universities. At the University of Wisconsin-Madison, dozens of partly clothed young men were found locked in a fraternity house basement, covered in food as part of a pledging ritual. In New York, prosecutors said this week they had reopened a 2024 investigation into allegations that seven members of Cornell University's Chi Phi fraternity drugged and gang-raped a female student.
Another University of Arizona fraternity, Sigma Phi Epsilon, was placed on 12 months' probation and fined $4,000 in May over hazing-related violations. In total, six fraternity chapters at the university have faced hazing investigations in 2026, with allegations including forced alcohol and drug use as well as violence and intimidation that in some cases led to hospitalizations.
Sigma Tau Gamma's national website lists integrity, excellence and citizenship among its values. In 2020, Pennsylvania State University and the fraternity's national board jointly and permanently closed its Alpha Psi chapter over hazing offenses that included supplying alcohol to minors.
